Reborn
by SpeedForce 1229
Summary: The sequel to Survivors and Seeing Red. Cowritten with the awesome Asgardian Blade.
1. Chapter 1

Do not own DC or CW characters

 **Chapter 1 Rebirth**

Kara looked at those surrounding her and met Bruce's eyes.

"Tell Alex, my family, tell them I love them. Tell them I didn't have a choice." she said with her last breath.

Kara's arm shot into the air with a scream and a red beam of light was emitted from her ring, forming a red portal. The girl wasted no time, flying into it. It closed behind her quickly.

Kara had what she wanted. She had regained control long enough to use her ring. She had fought the Inversions and the Worldkillers and had the satisfaction of hearing them scream when they realized her plan.

She had sent herself to the middle of the sun. With light filling her vision, she felt her body disintegrating, the ring exploding and the Wordlkiller dying.

With a final victory, Kara found the peace she had sought for so long.

Kara exited the portal and was blinded. She had left her home once again, this time not to survive it's death but to ensure its life.

Her body burned, her flesh turning to nothing, her mind barely remaining, existing between two worlds, a blinding light and a darkness that was burning from inside her, screaming, trying to escape her body. It didn't matter. The Worldkiller was not powered by this sun. Had she been able to smile, Kara would have as she heard in her mind the Worldkiller screaming, desperate for any escape, then blessed silence. He was no longer inside her, clawing away at her very being. He was dead.

She could feel the Red Ring explode, the energy that had been in her veins and arteries leaving her empty, bloodless, the demons inside the talisman banished.

Kara felt all this in less time than a normal human could have a single thought.

Her blood, her skin, her bones beginning to turn to nothing, she knew the end was coming yet it seemed in that nanosecond to last forever. It was fine, she was at peace. Kara knew she would die and while she didn't want to, had come to terms with it.

Somehow though, as the nanosecond stretched to a second and then more seconds, she began to realize that some part of her remained whole, free, untouched by the Red Ring or the Symbiont.

Her brain remained whole as did her spine. She knew some features of her face remained, at least her eyes, though she couldn't close them.

She lived in light, surrounded by it. Unlike her escape from Krypton, darkness wasn't her companion now.

So how was she still there, still thinking, still...being?

Where was Mother? Mother promised she would be waiting. Had that just her mind telling her what she needed to hear?

This must have been death. Instead of darkness she was surrounded by light. How did her eyes exist? Shouldn't they be burned? Why couldn't she close them and return to darkness? She had entered the Sun's light and could rest but the light blinded her..

The girl felt something pulling to her, still attached somehow. She remembered this movement, drew it to where her eyes should not have been but somehow still were. Where was the darkness of death?

Bones. Kara saw the bones of her fingers. They were a bright red, curling as she wished them too. How was this possible?

Somehow she still lived. She couldn't feel the rest of her limbs, her arms, her legs, she couldn't hear her own heartbeat or blood running through her, couldn't feel the red energy flowing through her veins but she was still here.

Kara could feel the solar energy now trying to enter her brain, the cells that remained, fighting off the invasion as her body had been disintegrating around her.

The girl suddenly understood. She had always relied on the sun for her power. It was the source of everything she had become since landing on the blue planet.

Instead of resisting the solar energy, Kara opened herself up as she never had before. She understood why she still existed. The girl had a simple choice. She could stop fighting and let what was left of her body give up. Her hand was gone now, her skin, her muscles, everything that made her who she once was except her eyes that would not close. She could let the star take her, let the sun give her what she wanted since she left Krypton.

Or she could live.

Kara wanted to live. Her mind was being overcome by the solar energy, she was forgetting who she was second by second, but she knew what she had to do. The sun had been the wellspring of her power.

Now she drank more than she ever had before. Her remaining cells flared, brighter than the core of the sun she was trapped in.

Kara felt more power than any other time in her short life. She had not felt this much power since she had taken the Red Ring and that was nothing compared to the solar rays invading what was left of her body..

She fought to live, even as her memories of who she was and why she wanted to live were pushed deep inside her. Her brain was too focused to worry about memories right now. Her mind, even her soul focused on one thing, rebuilding what had been lost and then finding her way home. It was important to her. She had to find a way back to...Earth? Yes, Earth. She had to get back to...Alex. She had promised her she would come back.

The solar rays continued to bombard what was left of the body, regenerating one cell at a time, tissue slowly forming, cells multiplying. Kara's face was skeletal, only her skull remaining, protecting her brain, her eyes were somehow there, open and still seeing nothing but light.

The girl let herself go. She had opened up to the source of her power. She had been born a normal girl but now was a goddess, a child of the sun she had lived under, a sun that gave her life and was continuing to do so.

All she had to do was wait, wait for her body to rebuild and then escape the light she was engulfed in.

This was her last thought as she gave herself completely to the sun.

 **363 Days Later**

"Clark! Are you listening to me?"

Clark shook his head, trying to focus on the red headed girl beside him. The same girl he walked home every day after school before going to his own home. "Sorry Lana. I was thinking about something."

Someone, he meant. The same someone he usually thought of. His protector, big sister, the greatest hero who ever lived. Clark used to dream he would follow her footsteps, take up her mantle.

Those dreams died with her.

"I know. You have been doing that a lot." the red headed girl told him. "Should I be jealous?"

He supposed that Lana Lang decided at the start of her seventh grade year that Clark Danvers, star Junior High Quarterback and baseball player would be her boyfriend whether he agreed or not. Clark didn't mind. He liked her, even if she could be shallow at times.

That wasn't fair though, he admitted. Lana wasn't shallow. She was just like everybody else. She didn't know the things he knew, she hadn't seen the things he had seen.

Lana didn't have an older sister who was depressed all the time and had probably been traumatized from years of battle against mankind's worst threats but refused therapy.

She didn't have another sister who threw herself into the sun. She didn't come from blood parents responsible for wiping out millions of lives.

That wasn't her fault. It was just life. Did she need to be jealous? Of course not. He was the one who was jealous of her. She lived in a sheltered world where right and wrong were clear cut and her biggest concern was about the next outfit she wore or whether she would make the high school cheer leading squad in two years.

He envied her. He also resented her, resented all his friends a little but that was not their fault.

"Of course not. Just thinking about...I'm pitching against Dayton Junior High tomorrow and they have a strong team this year. Sorry."

Lana bumped his shoulder. "No problem big guy. I worried for a bit that you had gone emo on me. If you start wearing black clothes we are going to have an intervention."

Clark nearly cringed at that word but kept his face impassive.

"So what were you saying?"

Lana dramatically rolled her eyes. "I asked if you were going to Raleigh this Saturday? Big event, right? The Supergirl Memorial thing? My parents are taking me. You could go with us if you wanted. I already asked them and they said it would be fine."

Clark nearly walked away but stood his ground so not to be rude. Ever since Kara died and Lois Lane and Catco had published that damn book about Supergirl, everyone knew what happened. Lois spilled everything she knew except his existence, the DEO's existence and Kara's and their family's identity of course. She even told the world about Myriad.

Everyone knew that while the strange men with the green rings and the Justice League fought on Earth, Supergirl had singlehandedly destroyed the entire Armada of space ships and then defeated the superpowered alien king by flying him into the sun.

The facts weren't entirely accurate but that didn't stop Lois Lane from telling a good story or making a fortune.

Now the entire world knew Supergirl hadn't just gone back into retirement. The world knew she was dead. Cults had rose up once again, even organized churches in all countries that prayed to her, statues, monuments everywhere. In life she was a hero and in death she was a deity. It made him sick because Kara wouldn't have wanted that.

They didn't know her and people acting like they did angered the boy.

"My family has plans." he answered shortly. No, they wouldn't be going to some remembrance ceremony. They remembered and mourned every day. Why would the anniversary be any different?

"Oh." Lana said, surprised by his sharpness. "Sorry I asked. I can't believe it's been a year. The invasion didn't come close to Midvale but my parents had us hiding in the basement anyway. I really thought the world was ending or something."

The world did end in a way, his world, Alex's world, his parents world. They pulled together, they supported each other, his Mom held him a lot of nights despite his half hearted protests that he was too old for that kind of thing. His Dad still coached his summer baseball team and talked about guy things, but all of them had changed. They had protected each other from the world since Clark was a baby.

But the world finally got in and took one of them. Alex hadn't been the same, not that he expected her to be. She still tried to play off the cool older sister routine but he knew it was forced. She barely spent time at home anymore, claiming work but he knew she hated the empty house her and Kara built together.

"So what did your family do?" Lana asked, pulling him from his thoughts once again. "I bet your Dad was probably watching Supergirl in space through that big telescope of his, right?"

Clark shook his head slightly. He had been in the Fortress, bathed in red sunlight, trapped and unable to do anything while his mother and father freaked out watching Kara turn into a rage fueled killer again and watching Alex having surgery through a security camera hacked into by Kelex. He was angry, frustrated, confused and terrified. Lana thought the world was going to end? She had no idea how close that came to being true.

"We watched the News." he settled for. "The whole thing didn't last long."

"I know, right? Not with Supergirl up there. What she did to that King was so cool."

Clark turned to face Lana, giving all his attention to her now. "What the hell do you mean by that?"

Lana was surprised, even backed up a little, so Clark made a conscious effort to do away with the scowl he had no doubt was on his face.

"I just...I mean it was hardcore, you know? Yeah it sucked that she died but she threw that snake king guy into the freaking sun. Think about it. How badass is that, right? I wonder sometimes if I could do that, you know? Die to save the world. I read that book about her Lois Lane wrote. She fought a prison full of alien convicts when she was 18. It must be cool to have that kind of life. All those powers, being a hero, having some meaning. She could have gone to college and got a boring job like everybody else. Instead she became a legend."

Clark began walking towards her house, already tired of the conversation. None of them understood. None of them knew she never wanted to be a hero. She wanted to be normal but that was never an option.

"What would you do if you had her powers?" Lana asked after a minute of silence. Clark stopped walking and looked at the street pavement.

"Nothing." he answered after a few moments.

Judging by Lana's face that wasn't the answer she was expecting.

"Seriously? You wouldn't do anything? I would. I would rescue people all over the world, just like she did. I'm not sure about the skirt though. I would probably go with something like a body suit, but a steel blue, you know? I guess it doesn't matter. It would be so cool though. Rescuing somebody from a burning building, people applauding you, building statues of you and your picture on all the magazine covers. You are telling me you would turn that down and do nothing?"

Clark met her eyes. "You ever think about the other stuff?"

"What other stuff?"

"The bodies of the people you couldn't save? Constantly worried about having your identity discovered and your family hunted? Wondering what alien is going to come for you next? Seeing all that destruction, people burnt, drowned, crushed..."

"Whoa! Slow down there. I love that you are deep and stuff but you are seriously a step away from goth right now. If you get a nose ring I am so dumping you. I get it, okay? The world sucks and all that. It's probably why she became a drunk. My parents wanted me to take down my posters of her when she said that on the News but I was just like, so what, the girl likes to party...Clark?"

Clark didn't turn around to acknowledge her or to even say goodbye. The boy was afraid of what he might say if he opened his mouth.

He walked home as quickly as possible. A part of him wanted to find a store bathroom, take the band off his ankle and run home at superspeed. He hadn't been without a red solar device of some kind on him in months except for showers and didn't want to break that streak but right now it was tempting.

His Mom was waiting for him on the porch as usual, trying her best to pretend to be enjoying the ocean view. He wasn't fooled. Clark knew that she wouldn't relax until he was home. She took anti-anxiety medications and still hovered over him. She even checked on him at night when she thought he was asleep and ran her fingers through his hair at times, quietly humming tunes he vaguely remembered from his earliest days.

"How was school, baby boy?" she asked.

"Please don't call me that." he asked knowing it would do no good. Kissing her on the cheek, he sat down next to her and she wrapped her arm around him as always.

"School was school." Clark told her, not knowing what else to say. She knew how bored he became at school. Even with no genetic modifications he was still the biological result of two brilliant minds and school was as simple for him as it was for Kara.

"Why don't you take that band off? Let yourself soak up some sunshine for a while. You look pale. Have you been feeling well? You have to tell me if you are getting sick. This isn't about you being tough. I need blood samples if you are feeling ill. I need to know before whatever is wrong can have a chance to advance. I can take a blood sample right now and you can take the band off for the night."

The boy shook his head. "I feel fine and I don't want to feel like a Kryptonian. Why don't you talk Dad into placing a crystal in me and I wouldn't have to worry about these bands all the time? If one of them breaks during a game I could kill someone or hit a baseball three miles, if it didn't explode on contact. I don't want these powers and I don't understand why..."

"When you are older." his mother cut him off.

"You don't want me to do what Kara did. I don't want to. So why can't I live like a normal person?"

"Because I can't lose you." Eliza told him quickly. "Not you, not ever. I lost Kara. I have nearly lost Alex too many times to count. I refuse to lose you. Do you know how hard it was for Kara when the two of you first moved in? How difficult it was for her to let me be your mother? It hurt her, I know it did, but she let me. It was a responsibility and a privilege I have never taken for granted. No matter how much you hate hearing this, you are my baby and I will not take chances with your life. We can discuss the matter again when you turn 18 but until them you may wear the bands as much as you want but you will not have any crystal put into your body."

Eliza leaned over and kissed his forehead then stood up. "We are having Teriyaki Chicken for dinner then you and your father are walking to Alex's to feed Streaky. She is working late tonight."

Rather than continuing a debate he knew he could not win, Clark followed his mother into the house and dropped his backpack on the couch as soon as she was in the kitchen.

"Please put your backpack in your room Clark." Eliza told him from the kitchen, even though she could not see into the living room. Somehow she always knew. Clark rolled his eyes since he was out of her sight but did as told, then came quickly back down.

"Can I go to the Fortress?" he asked.

Eliza looked at him with eyes that Clark could swear saw through him as good as any X Ray vision. His Mom always somehow knew when something was bothering him, like she could read his mind.

"What's wrong? Something has upset you."

The boy shrugged his shoulders not wanting to discuss it. What was wrong? Lana thinking Kara died a hardcore death, calling her a hero and a drunk who liked to party, Alex throwing herself into work to avoid dealing with Kara being dead, maybe that a couple days from now would be the anniversary of Kara having to throw herself into the sun and no one wanted to talk or even think about it but that was unavoidable.

"Nothing. I just thought I would hang out with Kelex. I don't have any homework. I'll be back before dinner, I promise."

Eliza looked at him for a moment longer then smiled and nodded her head. She knew something was bothering him and it was more than the upcoming anniversary of Kara's death. Spending time in the Fortress alone always seemed to give him a sense of peace no matter how little it was. "That's fine. Kelex is coming to the house later anyway. He needs to get out of the Fortress every now and then. He has still been having difficulty with the...new emotions he has continued to discover over the past...regardless, have fun."

The boy headed quickly to the basement. Stepping through the transporter he was in Antarctica seconds later.

Justin was watching the sun. Alex always kept in touch with Kelex and the supercomputer was always monitoring the sun for any irregularities. Alex had Kelex monitor any signs of direct threats to Clark but for the most part her focus was on the star that killed his sister.

Clark walked to the northeast corner and placed his palm on a familiar panel, one that should have been worn out by Kara and Alex's hands. The floor slid open as always and the glass cases slowly rose.

Mannequins were in front of him. Most had costumes Kara had made but never wore due to the possible repercussions from Cat Grant or their Dad. She had worn the blue top and blue skirt often at night though and a red cape hung from it, not Clark's blanket she normally wore but one Kelex had crafted. Her armored costume hung awkwardly on its mannequin. She never did find the time to fix it after the Doomsday fight.

Interspersed with these garments were the first costume Alex ever wore, what Kara dubbed her "Manhunter" garb. Copper fabric and flexible Kryptonian armor along with a mask that contained more tech in it than the entire NSA had. His older sister's solid black suit was also present as well as the one that was covered in reflector panels, her "stealth" suit that could make her invisible to the naked eye.

One mannequin was unclothed. It was the one that previously held Kara's famous red skirt and blue top. She had worn it to battle Reign then it turned into...whatever it was that Red Lanterns wore. Now it was lost forever like Kara.

His shoulders dropped and he hung his head, tears stinging his eyes.

Clark was so lost in his thoughts he never heard Kelex walking up or noticed him until he felt the metal hand on his shoulder.

"I miss her too." Kelex told him and squeezed a bit. "Would you like to be alone?"

Clark said nothing, hot tears running down his cheeks but shook his head. He didn't want to be alone. Kelex stayed behind him, keeping a comforting hand on his shoulder and for that the boy was grateful.

 **UNC Raleigh Genetics Lab**

"Dr. Danvers?"

Alex slowly opened her eyes. She knew the position she was in. It was one the woman had become used to, At some point in the early hours of the morning she had fallen asleep in her chair, head tilted back, arms on the arm rests and neck incredibly stiff.

"Yes...yeah Sue, what's up?" Alex asked her assistant with a scratchy voice.

"You slept here last night." Sue said, not asking. "You do own a home right near your parents in Midvale right? Do you not have a bed there? I can lend you one."

Alex tried to laugh, even fake a smile but her face didn't want to cooperate this morning.

"I had to get my report to the CDC last night. You know how it is with outbreaks, time equals lives. Sleep didn't seem that important." she explained.

For the last three months, in addition to researching antimicrobial resistance of viruses against various medication on the market, she took freelance work for the Center for Disease Control. Though Alex never went out into the field, she did look over reports from field agents and assisted in identifying potential sources of outbreaks in the surrounding environments. The work was interesting and kept her very busy. Busy enough that her family worried about her constantly.

Alex admitted between keeping up with her strenuous workout routine and her crazy hours at the lab, she had little personal time and what she did have, she spent at her parents or the Fortress, only sleeping at the her and Kara's house. Many nights found her like this, passed out from exhaustion at her desk.

"Seems like you are the one who doesn't have a life." Sue commented. "Dedication to work is one thing but if you don't take some time..."

"Was there something you needed Sue?" Alex interrupted, having heard this lecture from both her parents and really not in the mood to listen to her secretary rehash everything.

Sue must have recognized by the tone of Alex's voice that her advice was not needed.

"I saw your car here early and figured you had slept over. Your parents just got here, probably waiting for you in the cafeteria."

Alex groaned and looked at her monitor, seeing it was already 8:30. She had no doubt that she looked like hell and her parents would comment on it.

"Yeah, thanks."

"I think it is so cool that you and your parents eat breakfast together every morning. It's nice to see a close family. I wish I got along that well with my parents."

Alex smiled and shook her head slightly. "Family is all you can count on."

"Not friends? Maybe you could spend some time with yours if you ever left this lab." the younger woman suggested.

Alex took her in as she often did and wished she could be that girl. Sue was young, 22, pretty, raven hair and a willowy frame. She was optimistic and still thought life was easy, fun, even hopeful. She still had faith in humanity.

"I don't have many friends. The ones I do usually work nights and stay busy." Alex told her.

A few minutes later, a disheveled Alex walked into the large cafeteria on the first floor of the genetics lab.

"I got your plate already." her Dad greeted her then kissed his daughter on the cheek.

"What have I told you about working that late? Sleeping at the lab is not good for your health." Eliza started, not wasting time on pleasantries.

"It was a CDC case. What am I supposed to do, tell them I don't have time to analyze reports for the source of a viral outbreak because I need to sleep?"

"Don't take every case they throw across your desk." Jeremiah told her. They had this argument often and Alex always agreed to lessen her load and then continued on with her nearly all consuming work life.

Alex didn't argue. There was no point. She did the best she could to be there for Clark and took Sundays off most of the time, doing whatever he wanted, even if it usually came down to riding on her bike or playing video games. But the week was for work and work kept Alex occupied. It was easier than waiting for Kelex to report no unusual solar activity or hanging out in an empty house. Work stopped her from constantly reliving memories.

Of course the memories haunted her regardless of her efforts.

"You are going to be at Clark's game this afternoon, right?" her mother asked and Alex recognized it was not really a question but an order.

"Of course. I have never missed one of his games." Alex said, almost offended. It was true. The woman had never missed one of her brother's games. She may have tried to avoid having a life of her own but she would never ignore him. Clark was all she had left, the only one she had left to protect. Alex and Kara had been protectors since she was 14 and Kara 13. Now it fell to her alone to be there for her little brother, the one she fell in love with the moment she laid eyes on him, stumbling out from his hiding spot behind Kara.

After as light a conversation as possible with her parents, none of them wanting to discuss the date tomorrow, the anniversary of the worst day of Alex's, of all their lives, the brunette returned to her lab, shut the door and remained there until four PM. Her experiments needed time, cultures needed to grow and she could no longer think of an excuse to stay any later.

Alex drove home, not pushing her the car Kara had rebuilt for her due to her heavy eyes and no doubt slow reflexes on the road. Alex also didn't drive as she once did for unspoken reasons.

Though she kept her skills up to protect her family if they were ever attacked, Alex had lost interest in danger or excitement. If something happened to her, Clark would be lost. He couldn't lose both her and Kara.

Reaching home, she rushed into the house, fed and watered Streaky, changed clothes and took off, running along the beach, then her core exercises. She timed her workout perfectly, leaving just enough time to arrive back at the house, shower and leave for Clark's game.

Despite the mood he had been in lately, despite tomorrow's date, the boy did well. Her mother cheered loudly as always, her Dad watched in silence, studying the boys every move but things were not the same and they all knew it.

Clark did not have the same sparkle in his eyes when he struck someone out that he had before. The boy hit a home run and didn't smile as he rounded the bases.

Afterward, she accompanied everyone to the local pizza place where Clark's team celebrated their opening victory. The boy did his best to talk to his friends, smile, say the appropriate things but it was an act, nearly identical to the one Kara put on for most of her life on Earth.

A year ago Kara had been lost but whatever had remained of Clark's innocence was lost as well. Alex had come close to death, Kara disappeared and he truly understood then. No one was untouchable. The world, the Universe, was a cold, hard place where fair did not matter.

"I think it would be good if we were all together tomorrow." Eliza told her. as they prepared to leave the pizza place. "Please Alex? Don't go to the Lab."

"I won't." Alex promised. "Have lunch ready and I will be there at noon. I need to do laundry first and there is no way I am getting up early."

Her mother nodded, allowing Alex to relax a bit. Yes, she would be there. Where else would she be? Clark needed her.

When Alex pulled into the drive it was only nine PM. It was too early. Despite her exhaustion the woman always had trouble falling asleep before midnight. She preferred to hold the nightmares off as long as possible. Instead she walked to the beach for the second time that day and sat in the dark on the driftwood, the one Kara loved to perch herself on while she drew the scenery around her. Despite how many drawings Kara had done, the blonde always found some new detail she had missed before.

Not for the first time, Alex considered finding someone to spend the night with, even occasionally, someone to help her take her mind off the world for one night and then leave her alone. But who? Nyssa still texted occasionally, asking how she was but Nyssa had been too close to Kara. Seeing her would be giving in to her old life in Alex's mind, a life she had left behind.

A new person, someone who didn't know her past was not acceptable either. Alex had never been a woman to sleep around. Cameron had been her only real relationship. That alone made her wary of commitment. She also didn't want anyone commenting on the thin scars that traced her belly, the ones from the operation that saved her life after a high speed collision with a Worldkiller in the air. The moment she would be asked, she would relive that day. At that point Alex would have no more interest in her female distraction.

If she actually spent the night with someone, how would she explain the nightmares, the tears that woke her some nights, the shaking that wouldn't stop until the sun rose?

Someone new wasn't an option. Neither was someone she had known. Alex was alone and had come to peace with the idea that she most likely always would be.

The next morning the woman woke early despite her wishes, considered working out but dismissed the idea. She took her anxiety meds and the antidepressants she had been prescribed six months before that did no good and sat on the couch, planning to watch a movie, maybe a comedy, anything besides the coverage on the memorials, the celebrations of Kara's life, the dedication ceremonies for more statues.

So of course she turned to Catco's World Wide News channel and flipped to the other outlets Cat Grant owned.

The longer she watched, the angrier she became.

One channel discussed Lois Lane's book, Kara's life, her heroic exploits.

Another talked of her problems, her alcoholism, her drug addiction and mental health.

She watched coverage of the cults around the world, worshiping her. One church that worshiped Supergirl in Germany had organized a parade, a large crucifix being held by the man in front with Kara's likeness nailed to it.

Seeing that made the woman rush to the bathroom and vomit the pizza she had eaten the night before.

Kara would hate this, all of it. Did no one understand that she only wanted to be left alone? Did no one understand the sacrifices her family had made for this world? Life could have been perfect if not for Myriad, for that damn Astra who started her little sister's descent into madness.

Did no one, even Lois Lane and Cat Grant not understand that Kara wouldn't have wanted this? This world wide display would have sickened her little sister. It sickened Alex and she prayed Clark was not watching.

Alex could have turned it off but instead stood in the back of the living room watching more coverage. She grabbed a vase from the shelf and threw it across the room, shattering the television screen.

"Kelex, get me Cat Grant." the woman ordered, placing a com in her ear. "I don't give a damn how busy she supposedly is. Put her on the phone or tell you plan to knock out her entire global network."

As Alex suspected, Cat Grant understood that Alex Danvers did not bluff. She was in Alex's ear in less than a minute.

"Alex, how are you?" the woman asked, trying to sound sympathetic.

"I just saw your news channel covering a parade in Germany by some assholes who have my sister's likeness crucified! Take that crap off the air. The more it is shown the more controversy and anger it will cause around the world. These cults are bad enough but this is over the top!"

Alex heard Cat sigh on the other end of the line, as if she were suffering this conversation for Alex's sake. That infuriated her even more.

"Alex, our stations, all the stations are reporting on what is happening in the world. These kind of events are not just happening in Germany. I don't make the news, I just report it."

Alex felt her blood boil but lowered her voice. "You do nothing but make the news. You had my sister named and branded less than 24 hours after she showed herself to the world. You told her what to do, what to wear, where to go and she listened because she trusted you. You made a fortune off her. You still are. Do not tell me you don't make the news, Cat. That is all you do. Take this damn stuff off the air before it causes worldwide religious wars or I will take it off myself. You think you report the news? Try doing it without satellites. You have ten minutes before I blow them all and then I will be visiting you personally. If you think Kara had anger management problems, trust me, it runs in the family."

Alex cut the connection off and briefly looked for something else to throw. Noting was in arms reach sadly.

Deciding that being here was doing her no good, she mentally prepared for the day, a day of being strong for Clark and her parents, a day of acting the part she had given herself for their sake.

Before she walked out the door Alex heard the familiar sound of Kelex walking up the basement steps. He entered the house often but usually announced his imminent arrival.

For not the first time, Alex wished she had given him a more human like face. The only indication of something being wrong was the speed he was running.

"Alex, something...I found something. Justin reported it to me a four minutes ago and I have verified it. Three and a half hours ago something launched from the sun, a solid object. It was moving at incredible speed but actually slowed down as it hit atmosphere. All satellites can see is that the object was very bright and incredibly hot."

"A meteor from the sun?" Alex asked quietly. That didn't happen. It was scientifically impossible.

"Alex, it made impact in the Amazon Rainforest. It struck the Earth at the exact same place Kara teleported herself into the sun a year ago."

"Kara." the girl whispered.

"There is a strong possibility she has returned." Kelex agreed, barely concealing the excitement in his voice.

"Who...who else knows about this?" the girl asked shakily.

"Some seismologists have picked up tremors. If a satellite looks, it will spot a large crater in the middle of the Amazon. Other than that, no one seems to be paying it any attention. Of course it just struck four minutes, six minutes ago now." the AI told her.

Alex felt a multitude of emotions, including hope, fear, excitement and caution at getting her hopes up.

No, there would be no caution. A year ago today, the Earth in the same place in relation to the sun, striking at the exact spot...

"Wipe out any seismograph information. Search everywhere, wipe out anything that is related to this. Are there any locals who may have noticed?"

"No village for at least 500 miles." the robot assured her.

"Prepare Scarlett 2. I want to be in the air in under twenty minutes. "


	2. Chapter 2

Thank you for all the reviews in the first chapter! It's great to see you all back.

 **Chapter 2 Lost and Found**

The core of the sun is 27 million degrees Fahrenheit with a pressure estimated at 3.84 trillion psi. It is comprised of hot dense plasma and generates 99% of the fusion power of the sun. Should a person be able to astral project their body into the core, they would see only light so bright it would become the universe to that person.

Today was different. If a human were able to see inside the core, that person would see something much brighter than the sun, the figure of a human female, shining out above the reactions circling her.

It would be impossible of course for a being to be in the core of the sun.

Kara Danvers had always been the embodiment of the impossible.

The girl had been there for one year, sleeping, allowing her body to rebuild itself one molecule at a time. Only her brain and spine had survived her initial entry, everything else that possessed her destroyed in the violent reactions of the star. Her red ring and the acidic blood were gone and the Worldkiller burned to nothing.

Now only Kara remained, dreaming as she often did, keeping her eyes closed to avoid the bright light.

The Kryptonian had forgotten much over the past year. Her mind focused on her body, on surviving, and as such began to fragment. She remembered her name, she knew where she was, but not how she came to be here. As far as Kara was concerned she had existed in this star for perhaps millions of years. Time meant nothing to her. The blonde knew she had a past, she had memories of another time, another life, but they were jumbled so she tried not to focus on it. When she dreamed, Kara was in a beautiful place, full of sand, birds overhead singing for her and a great ocean in front of her.

The process of rebuilding her body was a tedious one. At times it was painful and she felt as she was floating in some sort of hell so she escaped inside her mind.

But then she was able to make out her hand, feel it flexing, glowing brighter than the area around her. Eventually she regained feeling in her toes. Kara should have been burned from existence when she arrived. Instead she was stuck, barely able to move but at least able to feel something.

She had places to be, people to see. The girl knew that in her mind.

"Kara." a familiar voice called to her.

"Turn around." another but still familiar and similar voice softly told her.

The blonde did turn, seeing her mother and Aunt Astra now in front of her, the hellish landscape of Argo City behind them.

"You aren't real. You can't be here." Kara whispered, though it felt very real. She could feel ground beneath her feet.

"Kara, it is time to wake up." Astra told her.

"Are you real?" she asked the women.

"Only you know that." Alura told her, stepping closer and caressing her cheek. "Why are you still here?"

The girl shrugged her shoulders. "Where else is there? I can't escape. My whole world is light and it blinds me. I can feel but I can't move very far. I feel pressure surrounding me. Is this hell?"

"No." Astra told her. "This is not Hell, nor is this Heaven. It isn't your time. They are hurting. They need you. She needs you. Kal El needs you."

Kara shook her head. Kal El? They? She? What were they talking about? Her mother and aunt were dead. A part of her knew this.

"Open your eyes now." Astra ordered.

Kara did so. On Krypton you did as you were told. She saw nothing but the light she had long become accustomed to.

"Look." her mother whispered, no longer seen but still in her head. "Look at Earth."

Kara strained, trying to see through the fire that surrounded her. To her surprise she was able. Far, far away, farther than any living being should possibly be able to see, she saw the blue Earth.

"You belong there." Astra's voice told. She remembered something about Earth. She and Kal El had to escape...Krypton? They were alone and then were found.

Alex. Her sister had found her. Alex had saved her.

"Listen." her mother ordered. "What do you hear?"

Kara let herself relax and listened past the sounds of plasma erupting and protons colliding, opened her hearing and let the sounds rush in.

"What do you hear?" Astra whispered and Kara swore she could feel the woman's breath on her ear.

Everything, Kara thought. I can hear everything. She heard planets farther away than Earth, some creatures moving on the red planet farther away from Earth, but it was the blue planet that had her attention.

"Find her. You know what to do." Alura told her daughter.

Kara remembered this. Someone had taught her how to do this and she taught...Kal El. Separate the sounds, place them in order, put them in boxes in her mind until she found the sound she sought.

She found the heart beat she had spent so much time listening to.

Kara closed her eyes once again and a memory assaulted her. The girl was scared, having just woken up from a nightmare. She felt delicate arms around her.

"It's okay. I got you."

Kara turned slightly and saw the face of a young girl with dark hair, lying under her covers and holding her as tightly as possible for a human.

"I'm scared." she told her.

"I know you are. Just listen to my heartbeat." Alex replied. "Just focus on my heart and drown everything else out. Listen to me breathe. You are safe."

A memory invaded her mind, one buried in the back of her head with many others she had a hard time getting to. The door always seemed locked.

"Kara, I don't like you that high. Please don't go higher. Just come down. _Don't fly into space. I need you. You are doing good, right?_

"I'm coming down, Alex. _Everything is alright. I won't take myself from you, I swear_."

" _You wanted to. You tried."_ her sister responded.

Kara had promised her then. She told her she would never try to take herself away from her again. She swore she wouldn't leave her.

But she tried. What had happened? Is that why she was here now? No...something else happened. Damn it, why couldn't she remember?

"Have you found her heartbeat?" Alura whispered when the blonde opened her eyes once again to escape the confusing memory.

I hear everything, Kara thought, unable to speak but knowing her mother would hear her regardless. Why was she here? Why was Astra? They were dead. Kara knew they were dead. Alura died with Krypton. Astra died...she didn't know. It must have been on Krypton.

Focusing once again, she sorted through a billion sounds it seemed. At some point the girl stopped hearing the twin sisters' voices.

Am I a god? Kara wondered. She heard everything, no matter how far away. Could she hear the entire universe?

Then she found what she was looking for. The familiar rhythm of a heart and breathing...but Alex was crying. Why was she crying?

Kara looked once again out of the sun, focusing only on the Earth and the sound she heard.

Alex. She was in a house, a house by a cliff. The girl was sitting by a window, looking out over the ocean with a cat on her shoulder and her arms curled around her knees. She was crying still but Kara could make out the words in between sobs.

"Come back to me. Please, come back." Alex said, not knowing Kara was listening from far away.

I can't, the blonde thought. I can't move. I am not strong enough.

"It's quite easy. All you have to do is think about it." someone had said to her once. She thought hard, a vision of a tall green...he wasn't human. What was he?

He was her friend. She knew he was her friend.

Just think about it? Kara had told Kal...Clark once to close his eyes and imagine the Earth falling away.

She had to get home. Kara promised Alex...she broke that promise before, she knew it. But that was not why she was here. The blonde knew she had come here for something and that task was accomplished. She needed to heal, to rebuild but now It was time to go home.

Kara raised her arms over her head, opened her mouth and attempted to scream. Light invaded her body, giving her greater strength than before. The girl knew she could do this. No matter the pressure, no matter what, she would force her way home, fight through this hell. Her muscles flexed and she flew, escaping the surrounding pressure even as it tried to pull her back. It wasn't long until she felt herself moving out of the sun. With a final burst of energy, the girl launched herself, solar storms erupting behind her as she absorbed each of them, using their power to push her ever forward, even faster.

Kara had no real sense of time, only knowing the faster she moved, the faster she thought she could move, the closer the blue planet came.

It was only with seconds to spare that she thought of slowing down when she encountered the atmosphere.

Kara saw the green, beautiful nature, the animals, the water...then she landed head first, the ground giving way, the Earth exploding around her.

The blonde rolled over on her back, seeing nothing but a large dust cloud, then fire, different than the sun. The dust cloud began to settle and a large number of trees that had been thrown into the air fell on her.

Kara did to bother to move them. She only wanted to rest. The girl grinned and closed her eyes to sleep. She had made it home and now she could rest. There was no reason to go anywhere.

Alex would find her. She always did.

 **Midvale**

Jeremiah followed the smell of bacon into the kitchen. Walking in, he was not surprised to see Eliza staring at the frying pan on the stove top, unmoving, lost in her own world, while the bacon blackened and smoke rose.

He quietly walked behind her, took the pan and placed it aside, then turned the stove off.

"Eliza?"

The woman shook her head and blinked, seemingly coming back to reality.

"Jeremiah? What are you...oh." she finished, seeing the bacon was no longer in front of her.

"Maybe we can go with cereal this morning?" he suggested. The man didn't think anyone was of sound mind to handle flammable tasks this day.

His wife nodded. "I'm...I'm not hungry. Would you get Clark? He needs to eat. Please try to talk him out of wearing one of his...he needs...sunshine. I don't want him getting sick. Bribe him with sugar if you have to. I think we have a box of that chocolate cereal he loves."

The man agreed, knowing it would do no good. Clark would not take a band off whether it was a wrist or an ankle band. He knew his son wouldn't be hungry today either.

He and Eliza had talked about how to handle this day. None of them had recovered from the past year. None of them were the same.

Jeremiah felt he let Kara down as always. From the day she came into his life he swore to protect her. Despite doing his best, the man felt like he had failed, failed to protect her from her enemies and failed to protect her from her inner demons.

Now he worried every day that he would fail his remaining daughter and son. Who would be taken from him next?

He knew at times Alex would space out and was most likely having flashbacks to some terrible battle she had been part of. He noticed when she was the least bit surprised at work or in public, her hand moved directly to her right thigh where she used to carry a handgun, her constant companion.

What would the man do if he could turn back time? It was something that had been on Jeremiah's mind since Alex's unsuccessful attempt to manipulate Barry Allen into doing that very thing. Would he go back to when the girls were younger, barely teenagers, and stop them from learning to fight? What would have happened?

Humanity would have died, but more importantly to him, his family would have died, Clark likely included. Kara would have ended her life, whether by her own hand or a vengeful suicide mission against an army full of convicts.

They never had a choice, any of them, not even Kara.

Now today, the anniversary of the day Kara had to give up everything to protect this world, had finally arrived. Her last months of life had not been pleasant, searching for ways to remove the ring, deal with her depression and anger without medication, having her brain waves constantly manipulated, and then the entire planet being targeted because Zor El's own creation wanted his daughter's body.

So how to handle it? He and his wife considered taking their children on a trip, somewhere remote so they would not have to deal with the world. They considered having a private memorial service since Alex never allowed one before. After giving it some consideration over weeks, the two decided the family just needed to be together, at home, supporting each other by their presence. Whatever someone wished to talk about, it would be discussed. If no one said anything, it would be left alone. It wasn't an ideal solution but neither parent had a better idea.

Reaching the top of the stairs, he heard a muffled quiet explosion behind Clark's closed door. It was obvious he had his television on and for once he hoped the boy was playing a video game that involved gunfire and explosions.

Opening the door with a feeling of dread, he discovered his worst fears were confirmed. One thing the family had all agreed upon was to not watch the News today.

Clark had broken that rule already. Instead of chastising him, he walked behind his son who was on the floor at the foot of his bed, wondering a bit what was going on. Had a world war erupted?

He knew Clark noticed his presence but the boy didn't take his eyes off the television.

"Son?"

"These people in Germany, they were having a parade. They had Kara on...on a cross." Clark told him. "Then a bomb went off. The reporters there are running but the cameramen...gunshots are being fired. It's not just there. All those other places those stupid cults are having rallies are being attacked."

Jeremiah saw the television was indeed covering a blood bath live. Bodies were on the street, bystanders and gawkers were stampeding each other, fleeing for their lives.

The man grabbed Clark's remote and turned the TV off immediately.

"We agreed none of us would watch this today. I knew something like this would happen." he told the boy.

Clark shrugged his shoulders. "I've been watching for two hours. They are going to have moments of silence in Star City, National City and Metropolis but there are bomb threats from anti alien groups. Some Congressman is holding a press conference asking for all memorials to stop and he blamed the invasion on Kara. He said it was her fault they came in the first place. Everything she did to help people and the day she died is filled with hate and murder. People calling her the devil and some people worshipping her like a god. Everybody knew she didn't like that. How many of those so called churches did she go to and tell them to stop?"

Jeremiah said nothing, knowing, like Eliza, Clark was in a world of his own, not really talking to his father but himself.

"Munich has her on a crucifix. In Tehran they are burning her in effigy. What is wrong with this world, Dad? Why are we here? Why do we stay? Earth is disgusting. We can all leave, the four of us. There are other planets we can live on. Humanity isn't worth saving. I wish Kara would have understood that."

Jeremiah sat down on the floor next to his son.

"That's not true, Clark. There are a lot of good people in the world. It's just...I don't know. Humans have always..."

"Been horrible." the boy finished. "I know what Kara thought. When she would help me with my history homework, we would talk about things. She told me about World War 2 and how she felt when she learned about the Holocaust. Slavery, murder in the name of religion or patriotism, chemical warfare, illegal experiments on people by their own kind, countries threatening each other with nuclear bombs and biological weapons. Krypton wasn't perfect but at least the people lived as one. Most planets do. Earth knows it isn't alone but instead of unifying, trying to be a part of something bigger, they still want to fight with themselves."

Jeremiah said nothing for a moment. He couldn't think of anything to say really. How did he defend a world that had taken so much from his family?

"Kara showed them a better way. Maybe one day, they will remember that. Look at all the people who are gathering for these ceremonies in cities like Metropolis. Those people are peaceful, thankful, inspired."

Clark shook his head slightly. "Somebody will probably set a bomb off there too. Why did they get involved? Alex almost died, Kara did die. What did she die for? These people? They aren't worth it." he told his father quietly with conviction.

"Because despite all the bad it did on Krypton, those girls believed in the symbol Kara wore on her chest. It stood for hope on Krypton long before Jor El and Zor El were born and because of your sisters, it gave people hope here as well." Jeremiah told him. "They fought for us, for the millions of innocents, they fought hoping this world would survive and one day become better for everyone."

Clark laughed quietly. "Now the symbol is gone. I guess hope is gone too, huh? I'm not hungry. Is it okay if I stay up here this morning? I just want to hang out for a while and play some games. I'll be down later, I promise."

Jeremiah did not want the boy alone but sensed he needed some space, probably to cry without his father watching.

"I'm going to go downstairs and check on your mother. Then I will be right back up and we can play some games together. Promise me you won't turn on the news again while I am gone, okay? We can't control what people in the world do. Just let it go. Kara wouldn't want you watching this."

He patted the boy on top of his messy head and walked out. He hadn't made it to the stairs when he heard the television turn back on.

Rather than scolding him, he decided to follow through with his plan of checking on Eliza.

First, he stopped at the girls' old room. Their furniture and beds were still there at least, even if the art work had been taken down when they moved.

Jeremiah picked up a framed photo of the two girls Eliza had left on the dresser they shared. He remembered that day well. Kara was 16, Alex 17, the two hanging out on the beach. The family had a picnic together and stayed into the night, roasting marshmallows while Jeremiah told ghost stories that weren't too frightening for Kara.

The picture was taken at 10 AM. He remembered because he took it. Kara had been doing well. From her Junior year to the time she left for college, the blonde had all but stopped harming herself. This had been a four week mark from the last time she had and though no one said it aloud, they were celebrating this. She was getting better and would be okay. On this day she even felt comfortable in front of a camera with her glasses off.

In the photo the girls had their arms around each other and were smiling widely. The thing that caught his eye about this photo were the smiles on their faces. They were genuine. The girls were happy. For that moment Fort Rozz, Non and Astra didn't exist in any of their minds.

If only that moment could have lasted forever.

"I miss you so much, baby girl. I am so sorry."

Jeremiah placed the frame back on the dresser and went in search of his wife.

She was sitting on the porch swing, a newspaper on her lap that she was paying no mind to, instead staring at the ocean, the cliff and the beach beyond. When Kara was learning to swim, he would catch Eliza watching the two girls through binoculars in the ocean. Now she stared vacantly, looking for her blonde daughter that would never come out of the surf again.

The man sat down beside her.

"You know how stupid I was?" she asked. "I actually thought we could win. Non, Astra, Myriad, Doomsday, White Martians, I really thought we could pull this off as well. I thought the worst that could happen was Kara had to use the ring and Alex would bring her back again. I worried about their safety so much, but deep down, I never thought we could lose. I should have fought. I should have told them no. Alex's plan was so dangerous but I never said a word. That's my daughter I thought. No one else could pull something like that off but she could. It would work out. Kara would beat Reign on her own. She didn't need that ring. She would just be smarter, more skilled than her enemy. She always had been. I knew what she was going up against. She fought a smarter Doomsday. I should have known that she would use the ring, yet I never really believed it. Our girls always won, right?"

Jeremiah took her hand, noting that it was cold. She clenched his tightly.

"I thought we would win too. I could have stopped it. I didn't." he told her, knowing it wouldn't matter. He would always blame himself, just as Eliza would always blame herself. It was what they did.

"Did Clark come down for cereal?"

Jeremiah shook his head. "He isn't hungry. He was watching the News in his room. The whole world is going to hell. I guess it would be too much for people to just let her rest."

Eliza shrugged her shoulders. "Earth has a way of getting what it deserves. It is only a matter of time. She is gone and some other planet will invade. They will all wish she were still alive. No one is going to be here to save them, not Alex and not Clark. The next time this Earth is threatened, we are getting the hell off this planet. I swear I will never lose another child to humanity." she promised.

Jeremiah made no comment, deciding that silence was the best course of action. The father wondered if Alex had gotten out of bed yet or if she had slept at all.

After a few minutes he walked back upstairs to check on his son and prayed the boy had gotten tired of the news and was playing a video game instead. At the moment he didn't care if the video game was one of the violent ones he knew Clark downloaded and hid on his system.

Of course the boy was still watching the news but now was on his bed, leaned up against the headboard.

The father sat next to him, stretched out and watched silently. There would be no stopping him so he decided it was best to get it out in the open.

Clark flipped channels and stopped at the Metropolis event. Thousands were there, even the Metropolis Police Honor Guard and they were all there for Kara. A city was united in support and he wondered if a bomb or some other terrorist act would occur.

"Some guys tried to plant a bomb in downtown Gotham. Batman stopped them." Clark mentioned quietly. "I bet J'onn is in Metropolis somewhere. Maybe it will be okay there."

A reporter at the Metropolis event pulled aside someone and began an interview. Jeremiah didn't recognize his face but the bottom line identified him as Andrew Schultz, a Senator from New Jersey. The man expressed support, thankful for what Kara had done for the city over the years.

Of course it couldn't last. He talked about the threats she had fought and wondered how many were because of her existence, pointing out Luthor had Doomsday in the first place for the purpose of killing her. The invaders most likely came for her. The aliens that called her out over the years did so in a violent fashion resulting in the injury and deaths of citizens. He also called out other heroes, pointing out that mass murderers like the Joker never appeared to the world until Batman did. The interviewer asked about the details in Lois Lane's book, the ones addressing how close Myriad came to destroy the human race and how Supergirl had saved them all. He countered, saying they were aliens as well and she only stopped the danger her people caused in the first place.

The feed cut to a Senatorial candidate in a studio in Metropolis, calling his political opponent an ungrateful bigot. The world for the most part still supported Supergirl, even if they were sick of the cults. An anti-alien Senator in an upcoming election would be facing off against a pro alien contender and the battle was becoming messy.

The Senatorial candidate blasted Lex Luthor and blasted the Senator for blaming a heroic young woman who gave everything to humanity while ignoring the sins of the human race. He retraced Kara's history loudly, starting with the plane caught in National City and the natural and man-made disasters she had saved thousands from.

An argument broke out between the two, the reporter not interrupting but letting it turn into a screaming match on air.

Even peaceful protests were turning into political battlefields now.

"He's afraid of aliens?" Clark mumbled. "I could make him very afraid if I wanted to. He has no idea how lucky he is, does he?"

A chill swept through the father's body. "Don't talk like that Clark. You aren't going to make anyone scared of anything. That's not who you are."

"I know." the boy mumbled and shrugged his shoulders. Jeremiah wanted to chalk it up to Clark's annoyance at the situation but the attitude had been festering over the past year. He had friends, even a girlfriend to Eliza's dismay, but like Kara, seemed to be withdrawing from humanity a small bit at a time.

"Can you please turn this off?"

"Why?" Clark asked. "If I turn it off will it stop happening?"

Jeremiah sighed. "Would you do it for me?"

"Would you admit humanity isn't worth saving?" the boy countered. He saw his father's face and wished he hadn't asked that aloud.

"I shouldn't have asked that." Clark told him, visibly deflating. "Yeah, I have seen enough. I'm sure all the death totals will be on the net tonight. I need a shower. I suppose Mom is going to bug me until I take the bracelet off, isn't she?"

The man nodded. "She is worried you will get sick."

"I can take it off if that happens." he reasoned. "Does she ever think that maybe I get tired of holding everything like it's made of paper that could crumble with the slightest amount of pressure?"

"She thinks that with it off you are safe and she really needs you to be safe, especially today. Please, just for a few hours, can you do that for her?"

Clark managed not to roll his eyes, instead pulling up his sweat pant leg and unstrapping the red glowing band. He handed it to his father and walked to the bathroom.

Thinking Eliza would be at least happy with this win, Jeremiah moved back downstairs, hoping Alex would arrive soon but also worried about her state of mind.

The man heard Eliza's voice in the kitchen and hoped Alex had arrived. Alex had changed more than any of them, trying to remain positive for Clark but he knew his daughter. He knew her worsening anxiety, her deep depression and the bottled intense anger.

He guessed the PTSD she had been silently dealing with over the years was getting worse, along with violent, frightening flashbacks. Despite this, Alex refused therapy after having booted Leslie out of her life shortly after Kara's death.

Alex believed Kara was alive. Jeremiah suspected and worried that this belief was the only thing that kept her going. She would have to truly deal with her sister being gone one day and dreaded the day that happened.

Instead of a conversation with Alex in person, he found Eliza holding her phone to her ear.

"I need you here. We need you here! I don't give a damn what emergency you are needed for. Get over here now!"

Jeremiah cringed, suspecting he would have to go to Kara and Alex's...to Alex's house and drag her from it. He couldn't hear the other end of the conversation and it didn't matter since Eliza was making her feelings loudly known.

"There is nothing more important! Do not tell me you will be back tonight and tell me what is going on! Get over...are you at the Fortress? I can hear the ceiling opening up. You aren't planning on flying that thing, are you? You have never flown it. Kelex had it remote flown when you brought it to the Fortress! You brother needs you and you plan to go flying? I'm coming over. I don't give a damn what you want. Don't you go anywhere!"

Eliza closed the call and headed to the basement quickly. He knew this had the potential to turn ugly quickly.

"Let's relax and I will go talk to Alex..."

Eliza turned to the man and practically growled at him.

"Make sure Clark isn't watching the news! I will handle this! I don't need you to talk to my daughter for me!"

At the Fortress, Alex groaned. Her mother would be here in seconds.

"Why do you not tell her what you know?" Kelex asked, while Alex resumed putting on her black, slightly bulkier flight suit.

"Not until I have Kara back here. If I have to listen to one more rant about how I should accept that she is gone from Mom, it might turn violent. I am sick of it Kelex. Are we ready for launch?"

"The omegahedron is powered and a systems check is being performed. Ready for launch in five minutes."

"Screw that! The systems can be checked in the air. I'm going now!"

Before Alex could make a step towards the vehicle, her mother walked through the Rann transporter. By the look on her face, Alex could tell she did not want a quick, calm conversation. She had no time for this.

"Not now Mom. I will be back tonight, hopefully sooner."

Eliza grabbed Alex by the shoulder as she turned away. Alex turned back to her quickly, brushing her hand away so fast Eliza stepped back. Her surprise at Alex's aggressive move did not lessen her anger.

"Clark won't stop watching the news. The world is going to hell!"

"I know." Alex told her. "I saw."

"Then you know he needs you there! With him, not taking off on some joy ride!"

Alex took a deep breath and tried to calm herself. "That isn't what I am doing. This is important. Trust me, okay? I wouldn't leave if..."

"There is nothing more important than your brother." Eliza told her.

"This is." Alex told her shortly and began walking towards Scarlett 2. Bruce and Lucius Fox had rebuilt her original in the Batcave at her request in case of an emergency. This counted as an emergency in Alex's mind.

Eliza of course followed her.

"That's it? Fine, I will tell Clark you had something more important to do. As much as you avoid home and stay at work he won't have a hard time believing it."

Alex stopped, feeling a deep anger rising in her.

"Me!? Ignore Clark!?" She turned to face her mother, her fists clenched. "I am always there for him! Always! This is important and I need you to shut up and go home! I will tell you when I get back and..."

"You need to tell me..."

"I found her!" Alex shouted. "I found Kara. I am going to get her. I am bringing her home. Now go back and don't say a word to anyone. Time is short."

Eliza's anger subsided a bit. Of course she found Kara. It wasn't the first time Alex had said this.

"You have been watching the sun for the past year. First it was the unusual solar storms six months ago, then a meteor that hit in Arizona three months ago that turned out to be a basketball size piece of iron and ice. You have been obsessed and I understand this but it has to end one day. You are going to have to..."

"What?" Alex cut in. "Give up? Accept it like you? Put some damn stone near the cliff with her name on it so you can have a place to grieve? She isn't dead. This is exactly why I didn't want to tell you. This is no mistake. We found her. Now I am going to bring her home."

"You know what Veritas said..."

"She is a damn idiot!" Alex yelled. "You gave up so easily! You all did! When I get her back I will keep her away from you and you can put up all the gravestones you want. I have to go now so go back to the house and take care of your son since I am apparently neglecting him!"

Eliza shook her head, her anger returning. "Fine then. When you find another chunk of iron come over and I will try to pick up the pieces of what's left of you."

Alex turned around and punched the side of her jet.

"Kelex picked up an impact site, the exact place Kara disappeared a year ago! He traced her path from the sun! This isn't some small meteor! It traveled from the sun to the Earth in three and a half hours and struck ten minutes ago causing a huge explosion! This is why I didn't tell you! I don't have time for your crap! Get the hell out of the way. I am launching whether you are in the danger zone or not!"

Alex climbed into the cockpit, seething with anger. She had hoped to find Kara and then let them know. She knew they would have this reaction! No one believed her. She could never accept Kara being dead. Veritas's theory about the sun was just that...a theory.

A quick glance to the side showed her Eliza had backed away from the craft. Alex took the controls and guided the craft quickly up until she was clear of the Fortress and took off, reaching Mach 2 a minute later.

In the Fortress, Eliza stared at the spot Alex had risen and exited from the Fortress. Not knowing if she should feel incredibly sad or angry at her daughter, she took it out on Kelex.

"What did you do? What is it you tracked this time? Are you going to comfort her when she gets back..."?

"Look at the screen," Kelex told her, cutting off her questions.

Eliza turned from him to face the giant column of monitors that was centered in the Fortress. Kara's toy that could watch the world for any dangers, terrestrial or other, had lain silent since her death. Alex had it always focused on the sun, looking for hope wherever she could find it. Now there was a giant column of smoke in the air.

"Alex was right. My calculations are correct. An object came directly from the sun, slowed when it hit the atmosphere, but still struck hard enough to destroy forty miles of the Amazon Rainforest. I am estimating the point of impact is near the site Kara threw herself into the breach last year. Because of the smoke, the debris and the depth of the crater, I cannot get visual confirmation, however the coincidences are too great. I believe Kara just struck the Earth and is there. Seismologists have detected the impact as far as five hundred miles away. I have scrambled their sensors so they cannot determine the source of the tremors. As of right now, this is the only satellite near the area and I have control of it. The feed is going nowhere other than the Fortress. I have sent our two remaining drones but it is likely Alex will arrive first."

Eliza gazed at the screen, the debris cloud, the trees that were flattened and the trees that were on fire. It was obvious a major event had taken place, a huge explosion on the scale of a hydrogen bomb being set off.

"How hot is the area?"

"The temperature outside the zone is over 150 degree Fahrenheit but cooling. Inside the zone and near the point of impact, the temperature is over two hundred degrees Fahrenheit and cooling. If the current temperature drop is consistent, when Alex reaches the point of impact, it should be at just over a hundred degrees, not more than 120. I can control the temperature of her body using the suit and her helmet. A portable oxygen tank and mask are on board should they be needed."

Eliza felt a multitude of emotions. Yes, the coincidences were astounding, but...if she let herself believe and it wasn't Kara...she wouldn't recover. Neither would Alex.

"Why didn't you tell me about this right away?"

"Alex is in control of the Fortress. As protocol demands I informed her first. She ordered me not to tell anyone else."

"Why?" the mother asked.

"She had a theory that you may not react well to the information and did not feel she had the time to convince you. Her theory has been proven correct. I would recommend not mentioning this to anyone else until we have physical contact with Kara. We have no way of knowing what her state of mind will be. I suspect she could easily fly off, making it difficult to track her. Despite our technology, with every minute that is lost, the greater the chance of her fleeing blindly or of discovery by others."

Eliza crossed her arms and began to cry. When had she and Alex gotten so out of sync with each other that Alex would keep this from her to avoid a fight? When had things between them deteriorated so badly that she verbally attacked her daughter before even waiting for an explanation?

"Please tell me...put me into her com."

Kelex placed a metal hand on her shoulder. "I would recommend, as your friend, to let Alex...cool off. Go home, be with Clark and Jeremiah and have your phone on you. I will inform you of all progress. If you truly wish to speak to her now, I will make contact if she accepts."

Eliza walked to the door to her home. "I will be here. I will give her time...keep the feed on my phone. I won't say anything to Clark, but...Jeremiah has to know. He won't leave Clark and Clark isn't wearing a band. He will hear...keep the satellite feed on my phone and I will have him slip in here. He will probably...I don't know. Just keep me updated and when Alex is ready to talk to me...tell her I am sorry."

"I will Eliza." the robot assured her.

While her mother came to terms with what she had learned, Alex was in the air, moving quickly towards her sister.

"Kelex, why can't I get the jump drive to work? I need to open a portal."

"The Rann Transporter is not installed." he told her.

"Why the hell not? Bruce's big carrier has one, Lobo's bike has one but Scarlett doesn't?"

"We have not tested the capabilities in a live situation so have no way of knowing if there are glitches. Opening a portal near the impact site would not be advisable regardless. Until we fly closer I have no idea what sort of radiation is present. There could be significant amounts of solar radiation that would affect the stability..."

"Time is of the essence! Do you have any idea how long it will take me to get there now?"

"At current speed, I would guess five hours. We have also not tested the hull strength and I am hesitant to allow you to fly past Mach 3. If there is a deviation from Kara's original design it could be catastrophic and then you would be of no help to anyone. I can take control and you can try to calm yourself. I have explained the situation to your mother and she is regretful of her words..."

"Shut it Kelex." Alex ordered. "I'm staying in control and pushing it to the limit. It will hold. Going to 5 kilometers altitude and hitting Mach 5. If the X 15 could do it so can we."

Alex raised the altitude and speed, keeping an eye on the temperature of the shield outside and took a deep breath. Flipping a switch, an oxygen mask dropped down and she placed it over her face in the event the hull began to compress and she would have difficulty handling the G forces her body could be subjected to.

Once the course was set and she attained a speed of Mach 5.2, the woman relaxed a bit. The temperature of the hull was incredibly high, the air in front putting tremendous pressure on the craft yet no alarms had sounded indicating the jet was in danger.

She turned her head and looked around the cockpit, surprised how similar this was to her first jet.

Not just similar, but identical.

The last time she had flown in this type of craft had been against Doomsday.

She could see it as if were happening at that moment. She still had nightmares of that morning.

Not only was she watching Kara be beaten to death, she also had a difficult time controlling her fighter. She never had difficulty before but this was a different situation. She was flying low, in between the skyscrapers of Metropolis, nearly ramming many of them. The ship felt out of control at times and when she emerged into the battle zone and swooped up for a bombing run, Alex knew it would be useless. She had thrown every weapon at her disposal at the monster and it did nothing to him. Only Kara had the ability to cause any sort of damage but she wasn't thinking, wasn't moving, just trading blows with the much larger creature.

The idea of hovering behind it and attacking did not seem like a good idea. If she did catch its attention, it would be a simple matter for it to turn and disintegrate her. That would do her little sister no good.

So she continued, full of adrenaline, weaving in and out of the tall buildings that remained standing until her last loop.

Kara was done for. It was easy for Alex to see that. The blonde's face was unrecognizable. Even moving in the air at high speed, she could tell her little sister was broken. She wouldn't be getting up.

Alex made one more effort, one more shot to take its attention away from Kara.

It worked. He briefly turned towards her and the sky was lit up by his intense heat vision. She felt the back of her ship struck, slamming her forward and spinning her. She lost her equilibrium, not knowing up from down. She didn't hear the ejection of the main part of the aircraft from the ruined wings that had been circling it.

She did see the ground coming very quickly and screamed trying to level the now much smaller craft out.

Alex felt a jolt in the craft and realized she had been lost...

"Kelex, what's going on?"

"I have taken control of the craft."

"I said I would fly!"

"You dropped 2 kilometers in 92 seconds and had weapons hot. You were about to attack the ocean. I suspect you were having another flashback perhaps? I will remain in control. Place your mask on and monitor the impact site. If any flying objects leave the site it will be important that we identify and redirect our heading if it is Kara."

Alex shook her head, frustrated at herself. She had lost it again. Kelex knew of the flashbacks she had. They felt so real it disoriented her when she was brought back.

"Thank you Kelex." Alex mumbled. He was right, it would do Kara no good if Alex didn't arrive in one piece.

It was silent for a half hour until Kelex spoke again.

"Your mother wishes to speak to you Alex. Would you mind?"

Did she?

"Put her through."

"Alex? Are you there?" Eliza asked. Alex could tell she had been crying, possibly still was.

"Where else would I be?" she answered shortly.

The woman cleared her throat. "I'm...I'm sorry. I wish you had just told me."

"And I wish you would have trusted me. The next time I say I have something important to do, I mean it. I wasted time with our discussion. I suppose you have seen the evidence?"

"Yes."

"Good. I didn't have time to prove a case to you."

"This is a difficult day..."

"You think I don't know that?! Maybe if you hadn't been so quick to give up on her I wouldn't have felt the need to make a case. 'Hey Mom, Kara is back, I'm going to pick her up and bring her home.' That would have gone over well." Alex sighed. " I suppose you told Dad?"

"We are taking turns, one of us in the Fortress and one of us with Clark. He doesn't know."

Alex closed her eyes. She wanted to stay mad, wanted anything to take her mind off this incredibly long trip. The hurt in her mother's voice made that impossible though.

"Look, maybe I should have taken five minutes to tell you or told you to ask Kelex after I was in the air. I am just in a hurry. She could fly away, she could be injured...she did just hit the Earth at an incredible rate of speed. She could have landed head first, her neck could be compromised...so many things could go wrong. We haven't picked up any movement from the crater. I know in my heart she is there but I don't know her condition. We also can't keep a huge crater secret forever, no matter how remote the area is. Go home, be with Dad and we will let you know what we find. I think we are three hours out."

Alex heard nothing for a moment.

"I love you, Alex."

The girl's tension left her body at that simple statement.

"I love you too, Mom."

"Bring her home."

Alex cut the com and continued watching the feed from the impact site. The temperature had dropped dramatically but was still over one hundred degrees. Coupled with the humidity it would be hellish on the ground.

The next hours were the longest of Alex's life, worse than the trip to Ysmault had been.

Finally she reached her destination. The bottom of the cockpit opened and Alex attached a rope to her belt, rappelling to the ground.

The area was littered with large boulders and fallen trees. As she suspected the temperature and humidity were horrible. Judging by the cooling of her body, Kelex was obviously monitoring her, but her head was exposed.

"No harmful radiation found but if you don't put on your helmet you are going to have quite the sunburn from too much exposure." the robot told her.

"We won't be here long."

Alex made her way over the debris, trying to find what she suspected to be the center of the hole. It was deep and the trip down was treacherous but quick.

"Sonar?" Alex asked, wishing she would have worn her helmet now.

"I have a heartbeat twenty feet in front of you." Kelex told her.

Alex steadied herself. She could feel it. Kara was so close.

"Bring Scarlett over. There are two large tree trunks over the spot. I need chains."

Alex worked quickly, having the trunks moved in under five minutes. All she found underneath them were woodchips, loose soil and gravel.

The girl dropped to her hands and knees and began digging. Thankfully she did not have to dig far. A foot down, she had brushed enough away to uncover a knee and continued up, moving debris with her hands until she uncovered her sister.

Alex cried out, her chest tightening and breath hard to find.

Kara was unclothed and filthy, but Alex could see no scars on her body and no obvious broken bones. Alex didn't see a red ring either. Placing her ear on Kara's chest, Alex heard her heart beating strong. Kara's heart was beating! There was blood running through her veins!

She gently touched her sister's face, wiping away dirt from the blonde's eyes as she called to her.

"Kara? Kara, please wake up. Please! Open your eyes honey. Listen to me. Open your eyes so you can see me."

Kara's eyes fluttered open and her chest began to rise as she began taking deeper breaths in the debris free air.

She looked confused for a moment, but Alex could tell when her sister finally focused as her blue eyes cleared and settled on her. The voice Alex yearned to hear for so long, whispered softly, cracking slightly from obvious disuse.

"Alex?"

"Hey sweetie." Alex told her, fighting back sobs.

Kara smiled. Slowly, she reached up to touch Alex's cheek, rubbing her thumb lightly under her eye and catching her sister's tears before they fell.

"I knew you would find me."


	3. Chapter 3

**Do not own DC or CW characters**

 **Chapter 3 Waking Up**

"Yeah, I found you." Alex told her, taking in those bright blue eyes she had waited to see for a year. The last time she saw her little sister, Kara was off to fight Reign and Alex was off on a reckless mission with Lobo. She woke up days later to learn her sister had gone into the sun. Everyone around her believed Kara was dead and at times, Alex admitted she had lost hope.

But the older sister knew if Kara were dead she would feel it. She felt the deep pain of her absence of course, but she knew Kara was there, trapped in the core of the sun, waiting, looking for a chance to escape and come back to her.

" _What did you do to your hair_?" the blonde mumbled in Kryptonese then and closed her eyes.

"Kara? Kara, I need you to stay awake, okay? Please Kara, stay awake." Alex practically begged. It did no good. Kara was unconscious once more. Alex listened to her heartbeat and was relieved it was still going strong.

"God, I wish I had a bucket of water right now." Alex said. "Kelex hover Scarlett directly overhead and drop that flight suit down I keep in the back. She may have no limits, but Kryptonian fabric does. I need to dress her and get her into a harness. I can't get her to wake back up."

Kelex didn't answer, but she heard Scarlett moving towards her.

Alex took in her sleeping sister once more and couldn't stop the tears from flowing. She slid her arms underneath Kara's shoulders, raised her up, pulled her close and held on to her tightly. Kara's head lay comfortably on her shoulder as she tenderly ran her fingers through her little sister's hair, brushing it back away from her face.

"I missed you so damn much." Alex told her between sobs. "I'm never letting you out of my sight again. We are going to put a lot of red crystals in you. I have been thinking about this for a long time. You aren't going to be in danger again. We have had enough. I'm going to take care of you. I'm not letting you out of my sight. Everybody gave up on you, but I didn't. Mom and Dad, even Clark thought you were dead, but I knew you would come back to me."

Alex wiped her eyes and tried to catch her breath. She and Kara had been inseparable since Alex found her. She was more than a sister, she was her best friend, a piece of her, two sides to the same coin. Since Kara had been gone, Alex felt broken in half. Now she was whole. She felt she could stay like this forever, but Alex knew she had to get Kara back, away from this jungle, away from this crater, somewhere safe to hide. Because the world still needed to believe Supergirl was dead. As far as the older sister was concerned, she was. Kara was back, not Supergirl, and that was all that mattered.

The flight suit made her jump when it landed in front of her. Alex had forgotten about it though she asked for it only seconds ago. Scarlett hovered silently over them, casting shade on the two sisters.

Laying Kara down, Alex rolled her on her side and placed the suit under her, then began bending and moving her arms and legs into the one piece suit. The older sister unfortunately had experience dressing and undressing an unconscious Kara due to her many drunken states in the past. Thankfully this suit was a baggy one for last minute passengers, not one of her tighter suits.

Once she zipped up the suit, the harness began lowering.

Alex caressed Kara's cheek and took in every inch of her face.

She stopped at her left eyebrow.

The small scar on the inside corner of her left brow was gone.

Alex thought for a second how this was possible then shuddered, realization hitting her.

"You had to rebuild your body, didn't you?" the older sister whispered, wondering how much pain Kara had been subjected to during that process. How much of her had burned away? Was this why it took so long? Did it hurt her? Had she been awake this whole time trapped in the sun without a whole body, only holding on to her mind?

"What did I do with my hair?" Alex mumbled to herself.

Kara has asked that same question after Alex had cut it back when she was 18, a freshman in college. Before Supergirl came into being, before Myriad, before Astra. Was she just confused? Were parts of her past gone?

"Oh sweetie, what has happened to you? It doesn't matter. I've got you, I'm going to take care of you from now on. No matter what we can get through it, right? For now, we need to get you out of here. This is going to be rough, so it may be best if you stay asleep for a few more minutes, then I need you to wake up, I need to hear your voice."

Alex buckled the harness to Kara's chest, arms and legs, then steadied her as Scarlett pulled her up. Once she was safely in the cockpit in the back, the floor closed. Scarlett lowered to the ground and Alex jumped into her seat, then moved over the barrier between the two seats and sat next to Kara, strapping her into the seat.

"I'm going to stay by you." she assured the unconscious blonde.

"Alex, there is not much room." Kelex reminded her, like Alex didn't know that. She was crammed between the seat and the wall only two foot away and the backup flight controls in front of Kara.

"I need to be next to her. I don't want her waking up and wondering where she is."

"If she wakes and moves, she could easily crush you." he tried to reason with her.

Alex shook her head, annoyed.

"I held her for four days from behind while she went through withdrawals. I think I can handle a few hours. She won't hurt me. For once, please don't argue with me and do as I say. If she wakes and doesn't know exactly where she is, she could break the jet apart. Let's go Kelex."

The hover jet still guided by Kelex rose, and gently flew into the sky.

"Go over cloud cover and keep away from traffic lanes. Set speed to just under Mach 1. Slow and easy. I don't want to feel any G force in this position." Alex instructed her AI.

"We can go faster. I have contacted Eliza. She and Jeremiah are aware you have found Kara and are bringing her back. They are telling Clark. If you would place yourself in your seat we can easily accelerate to Mach 4 and be back in four hours or less."

Alex laughed quietly to herself. Of course they would be waiting.

"They moved on remember? I'm the one who has been waiting. They can learn what it means to wait now."

Kelex said nothing for a moment.

"Alex, the sooner we get back to the Fortress, the sooner I can examine her. Please, place a helmet on her head so I can monitor for any signs she might be waking. If she does, you can talk to her through the com system and calm her. The sooner we are in the Fortress, the better, right?"

At times, Alex hated his reasonable and logical suggestions. Yes, they needed to get to the Fortress quickly, but she didn't want to be away from Kara. What if Kara woke and jumped out of the jet, not knowing where she was, before Alex had a chance to explain?

Shaking her head, Alex caressed Kara's cheek once more, placed the flight helmet on her head and crawled to the front, buckling herself in.

"Hit Mach 5, Kelex. Get us home." she told him, giving in to his damn reasonable thinking. For the first time, she hated her jet did not have a rear view mirror so she could see the back cockpit.

They flew in silence for ten minutes, Alex listening to every breath Kara took.

"Alex?" Kelex interrupted the silence. "Your parents wish to speak to you."

Alex took a breath and a mean spirited part of her wanted to tell them she would see them when she got back to the Fortress.

She knew they didn't deserve that though. Clark didn't deserve that.

"Put them through."

"Alex?" she heard her father's hesitant voice.

"Hey Dad."

"Your mother...she just told me you...you have Kara?"

Alex could usually gauge his state of mind by his voice. Right now was different. He didn't sound disbelieving, but cautious. His voice sounded scratchy as if he had been crying.

"I have her in the backseat. She is asleep. She woke up when I found her, recognized me and then fell back asleep. I have to keep an eye on her. If she wakes up, she might freak out and we really do not need to drop out of the sky right now."

"Alex," Eliza cut in, "what condition is she in? What medical supplies do we need to prepare? Are any of her bones broken, will she need solar lamps, surgery, is her spine damaged..."

"Mom!" Alex snapped. "Enough. I can examine her in depth when we get to the Fortress. If her spine was compromised I wouldn't have her in the backseat. She can move her limbs and has no visible wounds."

Alex heard nothing for a few moments until her mother asked another question.

"What did she say?"

Alex grinned despite the situation. She wouldn't feel comfortable until they were back at the Fortress, wouldn't let herself relax until Kara was laid on an examining table and awake. But the few words she heard couldn't help but bring a smile to her face.

"She said she knew I would find her." the girl told her mother, trying to keep any sarcasm from her voice and not sure if she succeeded. "We will be there in a couple hours. Have a gown ready for her. This flight suit isn't ideal for an examination. I am going to need a brain scan, so have the equipment ready. She might be...confused. I don't know what state she will wake up in, but I need to be prepared for anything."

"We will be prepared Alex." Eliza assured her. Alex was a bit irritated the woman said we. They had considered her dead for the past year. Only Alex had been making plans for when Kara returned. Instead of saying anything she let it go. It was a lot for them to take in. Perhaps if they hadn't given up...no, she would let that thought go. There were more important things to worry about.

After the connection was cut by Alex, Jeremiah left the Fortress while Eliza and Kelex prepared the place for Kara's return. He had to talk to Clark.

The man walked slowly upstairs. He should have been excited, eager to tell his son something that was good for once. Great in fact. The man could tell his son a miracle had occurred, the impossible had happened.

Instead he felt trepidation.

Walking into the boy's room without knocking, he found Clark saying bye to Dan Hawk and hanging up his phone. His father's arrival caught his attention.

"The memorials in Metropolis, Star City, National City, Paris, London and Mexico City went off with no trouble. An alien, a White Martian, attacked the Memorial in Belgrade. He killed seven people and then took off, probably wanting to get out before J'onn found him." the boy told him, eyes back on the television.

Jeremiah grabbed the remote and turned the television off. The father cleared his throat and sat on the bed next to Clark. The room was darker as night was falling, so he turned on the bedside lamp.

"Something has happened, something good. I need you to let me tell you everything before you ask any questions. Can you do that for me?"

Clark looked at him suspiciously. "Where is Mom?"

"Just listen and stay calm, okay?"

The boy still looked apprehensive, but did nod his head.

"This morning, early this morning, an object struck the Earth in the same place Kara...the same place Kara teleported herself into the sun last year."

"What kind..."

"Please Clark? Let me speak and then we can talk."

"Okay." he told him, but Jeremiah knew it was a tentative agreement on the boy's part.

"Kelex told Alex right away. They discovered the object came straight from the sun. Alex flew to Brazil and found Kara."

The boy's face froze in a way, no expression, no disbelief, no surprise, no happiness. It was a blank slate and it worried the father.

"Kara is okay. She is alive. Alex is bringing her back to the Fortress right now. She is about two hours away, maybe less." he continued.

Clark listened to this, not quite understanding what his father was talking about, so he took a moment to let it sink in.

Kara was alive?

"You told me she was dead." he said quietly.

"I know. I was wrong." Jeremiah admitted softly, his voice breaking along with his heart. The man was very anxious about what his son's reaction, his mind seeming to go through a million scenarios at once.

He was wrong? Clark thought. His Dad was wrong? That was his excuse?

"She came back from the sun? She survived. She has been there for a year, alone." he said more to himself, letting the implication of that sink in.

"Yes, it looks like that..."

"She was alone!" the boy snapped. "When Alex told me Kara was alive you told me she was crazy!"

Jeremiah shook his head. He had never said that, only told his son that Alex was having a hard time letting go.

"That isn't what I said."

"You told me to give up! You told me she was gone. You and Mom! I heard Mom and Alex yelling at each other just because Alex tried to tell me the truth! You talked me into...Alex was right. She was watching, waiting and all you did was tell me to accept it? Kara was alone! We didn't do anything!"

Jeremiah said nothing for the moment, letting Clark get it out. The trepidation he had felt was due to a possible reaction like this. It wasn't surprising.

"Clark...we made a mistake. I'm still having a hard time...but Alex says she has her, Kelex has confirmed it..."

"Why do you need Kelex to confirm it? Alex told you. Isn't that good enough? I should have never listened to you and Mom. I gave up on her! We all did! I didn't think she could survive and she did. What do you...she is going to hate us. She is going to hate me. Kara hates being alone, trapped! She would have come back right away if she wasn't trapped and you did nothing! You didn't even try!"

Jeremiah dropped his head, hoping Clark wouldn't see the tears threatening to break through. These were subjects he had thought of all day since Eliza had called him to the Fortress to tell him the news.

"Clark, she would never hate you. There was nothing we could have done to help her, or even determine if she was alive or where she was."

"You could have tried." Clark countered. "How long? Two hours?"

"Yes."

Clark was gone so fast Jeremiah hadn't even seen a blur.

The man ran to the basement and entered the Fortress, praying to himself Clark was not yelling at Eliza. The woman had been an emotional wreck all morning, especially after her fight with Alex then finding out Kara was alive. He knew Eliza was feeling everything he was and probably more.

To his relief, Clark was standing by Kelex watching Alex's flight path and ETA on the largest monitor. Eliza walked over to him and hugged the boy. He hugged her back on instinct, but his eyes were only focused on the monitor. Jeremiah wasn't fooled. He knew the emotions were still there, but Clark seemed to realize that Kara was truly alive and was focusing on that. Blame would be thrown around later no doubt, not just by Clark, but Alex. Right now none of that mattered.

The next two hours felt like they lasted forever, none of them could do anything but wait. Time slowed to a crawl then suddenly sped up as the roof to the Fortress opened up and Alex's aircraft slowly descended.

The three held their breath, watching the craft finally touch down. The cockpit slid back, Alex in front, jumping out quickly and motioning to Kelex. Alex was not smiling, there were no tears of joy. The parents imagined those happened on the journey back.

The oldest daughter was all business at this point, focused, intense and in charge.

"Kelex, take her to an examination table." Alex ordered. "I want a full physical workup including cellular levels of power and her brainwave patterns. She hasn't woken or moved since she talked to me at the crash site. Give me everything you can."

Kelex did as ordered, scooping Kara up in his arms from the back and walking towards the table they often used to examine Kara in the past. Alex was by his side, the other three following closely.

Once she was laid down, Alex moved to the end of the bed, touching her cheek while her parents and Clark slowly approached Kara's prone form.

"Can I touch her?" he asked quietly, looking at Alex for permission. Alex smiled and nodded. Clark took her hand gently and squeezed, then placed Kara's palm on his cheek.

"I always liked it when she did this." he whispered.

Eliza did not ask for permission, touching her youngest daughter's cheek with the back of her hand, doing her best to soothe her as her own tears fell.

Jeremiah stood in disbelief, frozen as if seeing an event he never thought possible. His baby was back home. Somehow, she did it. Somehow, she survived the sun. The man took her other hand gently and broke down.

"What happened to her scar, the one on the inside of her left eyebrow?" Eliza asked herself but everyone heard her.

Kelex walked back with portable scanner and ran it over Kara's body. He had heard the mother's question as well.

"As Alex and I theorized, in order to destroy the red ring and the Worldkiller in her body, it is highly probable that most of Kara's body was disintegrated. Her brain and likely parts of her spinal column must have survived and her body has rebuilt itself over the past year. Oh my..."

"What 'oh my'?" Alex asked quickly. "Is something wrong with her?"

"On the contrary, absolutely nothing is wrong with her. I need her undressed or at least in an examination gown, but from what the scanner is showing...please look at monitor."

The four did and saw a familiar female outline, one they had studied often over the years.

"As you can see, she is in perfect physical health. I have never seen this much power radiating from her cells. I would recommend we bathe the Fortress in red sunlight."

Alex shook her head quickly. "I don't want her vulnerable right now."

"She will not be." the robot ensured her. "It will most likely take weeks for her levels of absorbed solar energy to return to a normal state. Until she has absorbed enough red solar energy to counteract the power in her cells, taking blood or tissue samples will be impossible."

"I don't need blood samples. Have you scanned her brain?" Alex asked impatiently.

Kelex walked off and returned with a crystal tiara which he placed on her forehead then checked the monitor.

"Her brain waves are…normal." Alex told the room, sounding very relieved. "Too normal. Her brain before...Kelex I want a PET, a SPECT and an MRI. Give me a complete workup and compare it to before the Invasion."

Jeremiah cleared his throat. He hated to be the one to ask, but it had to be checked. If there was a possibility that this was not completely his daughter he needed to know now, figure out how to get whatever remained of that thing out of her.

"Kelex, are there any signs that some part of the Worldkiller..."

"She wouldn't have come back if it was still in her!" Alex snapped at him before he could finish the question. "The Worldkiller couldn't have survived the sun. The ring obviously didn't. She recognized me. Have you two been paying attention? Her body disintegrated! Do you think it hurt? What was she doing while this was going on, while her body rebuilt itself? I doubt she could close her eyes because she didn't have eyes! You think Kara would have come back if there was any trace of that thing in her?!"

Jeremiah flinched at the accusation in his oldest daughter's voice. He knew Alex had been in an obvious heightened state of anxiety and still was. His own emotions were all over the place, love, joy, relief...guilt.

"I am only saying that if any trace of it is still present, now would be the time to get it out of her system." he reasoned.

Kelex stepped between the two. "There is no trace of anything in Kara other than her own DNA. As I said, she is in perfect physical health."

Alex brushed a strand of Kara's hair off her forehead. Her little sister's hair was so filthy she wasn't sure how many showers it would take to get it all the twigs, ash and dirt free. Her entire body was filthy and Alex debated bathing her before putting her in an examination gown. Kara had not been this filthy since the Hospital fire in Gotham when she was 17.

"If she is healthy, why is she unconscious?" Alex asked the AI.

"I suspect she may be very tired and is sleeping." Kelex told her. "She did just escape an estimated 4 trillion pounds of pressure per square inch in the core of the sun, then flew to Earth at a speed of 26.56 million miles an hour and only slowed slightly when she entered the atmosphere before she crashed seconds later with the force of four very large hydrogen bombs. The need for rest is not unexpected."

Kara seemed to confirm this theory when she moved on the table, causing everyone to tense. Even Alex was not certain of what state of mind she would be in when she finally woke.

Rather than waking, Kara rolled over on her right side, drew her knees up and placed her hands under her cheek.

She then began snoring.

Despite the tension Alex couldn't help but laugh. She never thought she would miss that sound so much.

"I'll be back." Clark told them suddenly, then rushed to the transporter leading to Alex's basement. A minute later he was back with Streaky in his arms.

The cat perked up as the boy carried her closer to Kara. Within jumping distance, Streaky leapt out of the boy's arm onto the exam table, crawling under Kara's hair and purring.

Jeremiah and Eliza looked at each other and smiled. Despite the uncertainty and tension of the day, seeing Streaky in her usual sleep position wrapped in her Kara's hair made them smile.

"So, I guess all we can do is wait." Jeremiah told the group.

"I've been doing that for a year." Alex mumbled.

Her parents walked over to her and wrapped the girl in their arms.

"Thank you, Alex." Eliza whispered.

Alex nodded, but said nothing. She didn't want thanks. She wanted Kara to wake up so she could get her home.

A little over an hour later the snoring stopped. Streaky jumped from Kara's hair and climbed over her shoulder, perching herself in front of the blonde's face. One lick on the cheek was all it took.

Kara slowly opened her eyes and spotted her feline friend.

"Alex?" Kara asked, looking past the cat. She could feel Alex touching her cheek, but needed to see her to ensure she had not been dreaming again.

"I'm right here." Alex assured her, leaning down in front of her sister to meet her eyes. "You are okay. We are at the Fortress. You are safe."

Kara sat up and looked around her bed. She saw Clark and her parents...and Kelex? When had he gotten normal limbs?

"Mom, Dad? Clark? _You are okay?"_

"She recognizes us." Eliza said, relieved and moving closer to Kara.

The blonde looked back at her sister.

" _What happened to me?"_

" _What is the last thing you remember?"_ Alex asked.

Kara thought for a moment. Her mind was filled with so many memories and...none at all. Some things had happened, but what? How did they fit? When did Clark get so tall? How did Kelex have a fully formed functioning body? Where had she been? It had been so bright. What caused her to be there, wherever there was?

"I don't know. I remember...things." she answered in English. "We were building a house, right? I had been somewhere...I rebuilt a car for you. I think. Or was it a bike? Clark got his powers and we came...here. I...where was I?"

"Stay calm for me, okay? I will explain everything, but let's make sure you are okay first. How do you feel?" Alex asked, becoming very worried. What all had Kara forgotten? Was her mind and the memories that were in it fractured or just gone?

Instead of dwelling on that for the moment, she wrapped Kara in her arms. Kara gently returned the hug. Alex knew she was holding back the same way she held back whenever she had her powers.

Kara's confusion was dangerously close to making her panic, but the looks of apprehension on her family's faces made her hold it together. How did she feel?

" _I feel better than I have my entire life_. _I'm hungry. Where have I been? Why is Clark so tall...no...where was I? What happened?"_ the blonde asked, beginning to feel a bit of anxiety now that she was becoming more alert.

"What is she saying Alex?" Eliza asked.

"You both had 13 years to learn Kryptonese. Maybe if you would have made an effort you would know." Alex told them sharply, tensing up despite being held securely in Kara's arms.

"Alex? Why would you say that? Don't...what is going on? Why are you mad?" the blonde asked worriedly, pulling back from Alex so she could see her sister's face.

Alex smiled as she gently reassured her little sister. "Kara, you need to relax now. You have been through a lot. You have been gone a while honey."

"How...long?" Kara asked, remembering to speak in English. Her and Alex's use of two languages had never been a problem before. For some reason it was causing tension now and Kara wanted no part of any tension. She had no idea what was going on and needed answers, not arguing.

"A year." Clark answered. "You don't remember?"

"A year?" Kara whispered. "Where have I been for a year?" she asked, beginning to understand more was wrong than just Kelex's new body and Clark's extra foot and half in height.

"The sun." Clark told her before anyone could stop him. "You fought the Worldkiller, the first one. It was a symbiont and it got to you, so you went into the sun to kill it. You never came back." he told her in a broken voice. "We thought you were dead. Alex and Kelex didn't, but...we did."

Kara listened to him in a bit of disbelief. Worldkiller 1? That was impossible. What would the Worldkiller be doing on Earth. How...

" _How did I..._ How did I get into the sun? That's impossible." she told the group, desperately trying to understand. They thought she had been dead for a year? The sun?

Alex rubbed her shoulders from behind. "What is the last thing you remember?"

Kara closed her eyes and tried to focus. She remembered Clark's powers emerging...she became Supergirl...later. Myriad, Astra, she was building something...Hank Henshaw? Something about Hank Henshaw.

"I remember light." Kara finally told them. "I was trapped in it. I wasn't sure...I thought I was in hell...or heaven. Sometimes I felt pain, sometimes I didn't...I tried to sleep...maybe I did. I couldn't close my eyes though. The light...it was too bright. Clark had a soccer game yesterday...no, not yesterday..."

Kara stopped speaking for a moment then turned to look at Alex.

"Mother and Aunt Astra were with me where I was. I don't know where we were. They told me to look, to listen for you. I could hear...everything. You were on a bench next to a window. Streaky was in your lap. You were crying. You asked me to come back to you, but I couldn't move. Then I thought about it and really tried. I could feel my body finally and this power...so much power flowed through me. I followed your heartbeat. I...I remember the Earth was coming too fast and I tried to slow down. I hit the ground and stayed there and I was right. You found me."

Alex stood unmoving, listening to Kara's voice, shocked at what she had just heard.

"I didn't sleep last night. I was by the window bench in my bedroom. You heard me?" she asked to be sure.

Kara nodded her head and the older sister grabbed onto her, breaking down into tears.

"You heard me." Alex whispered., holding her tightly. "Thank you, Kara. You came back to me. You found me too."

Kara pulled away from her sister and wiped a tear from Alex's cheek.

"Alex, how the hell did I get into the sun? What happened? Worldkillers? They were just files, monsters, they weren't supposed to be here. How did I fly all that way through the heat to the core? It shouldn't be possible."

Eliza sat on the table next to Kara. "Do you remember..." she looked to Jeremiah hesitantly, "...do you remember the red ring?"

The five in the room watched Kara intently. All of them were well versed in Kara's ability to lie.

Her face showed nothing, no hint of recognition or reaction to the red ring.

"What ring?" the blonde asked.

Alex gave her mother a look that suggested they not push this.

"It's not important right this minute. I will tell you everything, but first I need to know if you are okay. I want to run some more tests on you and then we can go home and get you some food, okay?"

Kara shook her head. "Tests can wait. I feel...amazing. I am so hungry. We can eat and you can tell me what happened."

"I think that's...okay." Jeremiah agreed, thinking it may be best to get Kara away from here, get her home so se could feel more relaxed.

Alex scowled at the man, but then let it go. Maybe it would be better to explain somethings to Kara in a different environment.

"Kelex, please have ten pizzas delivered to our house as soon as possible..." Eliza asked before Alex interrupted her.

"We are taking her to our house. Do you remember, Kara? You built us a home on the cliff?"

Alex felt a great deal of relief when Kara smiled.

"You got more paint on yourself than the exterior." she told Alex. "But we haven't gotten the furniture moved in, have we?"

Jeremiah cleared his throat. "Alex, perhaps it would be better if she came home, especially if she is a little unclear at the moment. She might feel more comfortable there."

"We are going to our home. Kelex have the food delivered there as soon as possible." Alex ordered. She took Kara by the arm and the blonde allowed Alex to guide her to one of the large doors of light with Streaky perched on her shoulder.

"When did I hook up this transporter?" Kara asked.

Alex didn't answer, instead activating the portal and walking them through it.

They all entered the basement of Kara and Alex's house, Kelex included.

Kara walked slowly up the stairs and then stood still, taking in the house. To one who didn't know better, it would appear she was looking at the walls and ceiling of the kitchen, but in fact, was X Raying the entire house.

"When did we do this? How long...did you do this? What the hell is going on?!"

"Hey, calm down." Alex told her soothingly. "I will tell you everything, but you need food, right? I have some food in the fridge and the cabinets..."

Kara did not wait for Alex to finish, placed Streaky on the table top then walked to the cabinet and pulling out three cans of baked beans. She opened the cans with her fingernails and tilted the first can up. Three were emptied in seconds. Next, she attacked the cereal.

"I need more." Kara whispered, tossing the empty container in the trash.

"Sit down and I will get you a drink. We can wait a few more minutes for the pizza to arrive, right?" Alex asked. "Then I can explain what happened and you can take a shower maybe? I still need to check you over. Do you understand?"

Kara seemed to snap out of the eating binge she had just begun. The blonde realized what she had just done and nodded her head, slightly embarrassed.

"I think I probably need a shower now before I eat...more." she admitted. The blonde made her way to the top of the stairs and into her bedroom, Eliza and Alex in tow. She stopped in front of her bed and smiled.

"This is my room. Yours is just like it, right Alex?"

"Yeah, Kara. We match like always."

Alex and Eliza stood outside the bathroom, waiting for the water to turn on, hoping Kara did not break a shower knob off. Despite her confusion, the blonde seemed to have remembered her ability to control her own strength. Once the shower started the two women took a deep breath.

"She is confused, all over the place. What do you think we should tell her?" Eliza asked.

"The truth and maybe remember she heard me from the sun, so she can certainly hear this conversation." Alex told her shortly.

Eliza let out a defeated breath. "I get it, okay? You are angry at me, at me and your father, but please Alex, we just got her back. Can we put this aside for now? I just...you can yell at me later, tell me 'I told you so' for hours on end, but for now, can we just stop? You were right, I was wrong and you will never know how sorry I am for that, but not right now."

Alex shook her head and leaned against the wall.

"Yeah, you are right. Sorry, I have just been a little...it's been an emotional day and I am still having a hard time believing she is in the shower. I'm afraid if I don't constantly watch her she might...disappear."

Eliza agreed. It was surreal. She desperately wanted Kara in her home, in her old room under her watch, but knew if she tried Alex would fight her over it. Kara was confused enough. The last thing she needed was to see her parents and sister fighting.

Kara walked out ten minutes later, her flight suit traded for pajamas Alex had left her on the counter.

The blonde looked at her room one more time.

"My bed isn't made. It looks like I just...I was gone for a year?" she asked, the disbelief still obvious in her voice.

"I never could bring myself to change anything." Alex admitted.

Kara looked at her sister, seeing she was on the verge of tears again. She hugged her tightly.

"Whatever happened, it's over. I smell pizza. Eat with me." she told her, taking her hand and Eliza's. "And then I want to hear what happened."

Alex and Eliza looked at each other not knowing what to say to that or how much they should tell Kara right now. It was obvious she was very confused and the truth could only make her more confused.

Jeremiah and Clark were waiting for her at the bottom of the stairs. The father wrapped an arm around his youngest daughter and was glad he felt no tension from her. Instead, she leaned her head on his shoulder and let herself relax, as she often had when younger.

The family sat at the table except Kelex who stood watch at the back of the kitchen. No one said a word as Kara continually downed slice after slice. Her appetite seemed to have no end.

Eventually after the seventh pizza, she forced herself to stop and sat back.

"Who is going to tell me what is going on?" the blonde asked.

The parents and Alex looked at each other, wondering who would take the lead.

Clark solved the problem for them.

"I'll tell you everything." the boy promised.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4 Memories

"That makes no sense." Kara told her little brother.

The family looked at each other, not sure of a response. Though no one wanted the boy to talk, once he had started, none of them had any idea how to stop him as Clark rambled on through a poorly crafted lie.

The boy had explained that Kara and Alex stopped Myriad. Kara knew this but was vague on the details. He had told her of all the good she had done as Supergirl over the years, but left out everything else.

He left out the self-harm, the depression, the drinking and drug use, the body count she left behind in her pursuit of justice. Kara did not seem to notice, leaving her parents and sister wondering how much she did and didn't remember.

"If I was doing so much good, why did I quit?" she continued, a confused expression on her face.

"Because I asked you to and you swore you would." Clark told her. That in itself was not a lie. He had asked and she did swear. The fact she was in rehab when she swore made no difference to the boy.

Kara was still puzzled. "Why would you ask me that? I remember you loved that I was Supergirl. I would fly in from the ocean for all of your birthday parties, take pictures with your friends..."

"Because!" Clark snapped. "I didn't want you to do it anymore. People stopped appreciating you. Remember when you told me people would be scared of us? Some of them were. It didn't matter what you did or how many lives you saved. Somebody was always trying to kill you and then Doomsday, even though you beat him, you got hurt. I was sick of it, so I asked you to stop. You promised."

Kara was surprised by the desperation and conviction in his voice. Something had changed about Clark. Of course he thought she had been dead for the last year. She knew Alex looked different. She was thinner than Kara had seen her before, always shaking and constantly hovering behind Kara. Her parents looked worn out, almost broken in a way she couldn't understand. They were also strangely silent.

As she momentarily focused on her dad, a memory resurfaced, Jeremiah above her, preparing to place a...red crystal into her shoulder?

"I got rid of my powers." Kara realized. "Dad, you figured out how to place a crystal in me that mimicked the red sun rays."

After a moment of awkward silence, Jeremiah cleared his throat which felt incredibly thick and confirmed he did.

"So how did that lead me to fighting some invasion?" the blonde asked her dad. He opened his mouth to respond but said nothing. Kara's brother, as he had been doing all evening, jumped in.

"The Worldkillers came and nobody could stop them, so you did." Clark told her quickly. "I told you it was okay and I shouldn't have. You took the crystal out and fought two of them. Alex fought one and Batman and Lobo fought the other two. You fought Reign and beat her but the first one, the Worldkiller that started the invasion, he...he tried to take over your body. You couldn't get him out so you sent yourself into the sun."

Kara knew that wasn't the whole story. It was obvious by her family's silence. "How did I get into the sun? You say I sent myself there, but how? I couldn't have flown that fast, or broken into the core. If I didn't fly, how did I get there?"

"Zeta Beam." Clark told her quickly. The boy remembered Lobo used one to get to Ysmault quickly when Kara became a Red Lantern. He had gotten it from a guy in Detroit... "Some guy named Strange owed Lobo a favor. It's like a transporter, but a lot more powerful. You were going to use it to send the Worldkiller into the sun but it was too fast, so you sent yourself. That was a year ago."

Alex shook her head, amazed at how quickly Clark was coming up with these answers _._ Thankfully, Kara's tells hadn't changed because Alex could still read her little sister's body language. She could see Kara obviously knew he was lying or leaving out a lot of detail.

Deciding to intervene finally, Alex moved from behind the couch where she had been rubbing Kara's shoulders to the front and sat next to her.

"Clark, I think you have caught her up on the basics. Kara, I realize you know he isn't telling you everything. There is a...lot of stuff that has happened. Right now, I need you to tell me what you remember. Can you do that?"

Kara nodded her head, as Alex took her hand. "What is your earliest Earth memory?"

The blonde grinned. "We crashed. You found us and brought us here. I mean over there." Kara pointed in the direction of her girlhood home.

"Okay," Alex continued. "Do you remember where you crashed and how you got here?"

Alex could see Kara thinking hard, too hard. This should have been easy to answer. The crash had been frightening as had Kara's journey to Midvale across country.

Finally the younger sister shook her head and shrugged her shoulders, seeming not to care. "No, not really. We crashed and you found us."

Alex took a deep breath, suspecting what was going on and wondering how much she should push it.

"Do you remember why Krypton exploded?"

Kara looked closely at her, wondering what was going on. They had talked about this a lot over the years.

"The core became unstable. You know that. We had a ship and our parents sent us here to live. Why would you ask me that? Of course I remember why it exploded."

Alex saw a bit of agitation in Kara's face, so backed off. Her little sister hadn't mentioned Jor El, the Codex, her family's knowledge or even her family being the cause of the planet's destruction.

"Do you...do you remember Hank Henshaw?" she asked hesitantly.

"Alex!" Eliza snapped. Alex ignored her, focusing on Kara only.

Kara actually grinned. "It was the name J'onn used to run the DEO. I never understood why he used that name. Why didn't he just go with John Jones or something similar? It was always a pain to remember what name to call him. How are Jessica and Jason doing? Are they still in National City?"

Alex held as still as possible, her suspicions coming true with every statement Kara made. "What do you remember about Jess?"

Kara took a moment. What did she remember about Jess?

"I know she was Jason's girlfriend. J'onn helped get Clark and me our identities and...Jason worked for him. They moved to Midvale because J'onn was afraid someone would find out about us and he was...no there were more, Ty maybe, and...Dan? Jess is his girlfriend. She is our friend. We hung out a lot, right?"

Alex nodded her head and smiled at Kara, squeezing the girl's hand. "Do you remember a bar in National City? One that served aliens only?"

"Alex, that's enough." Jeremiah told her.

"Stay out of this." Alex snapped at the man, giving him a cold look. She turned back to Kara who was surprised by the anger in Alex's tone. Alex knew she would have to relax to keep Kara calm.

"An alien bar? Alex, I have never drunk alcohol. Why would I go to an alien bar...wait, did we take a lot of Fort Rozz prisoners from there? Having them all in one place must have made it easier, huh?"

Alex took a deep breath. It was as she suspected. Kara had blocked out every bad memory. Her mind was jumbled, confused as to dates and times, fierce battles, but it was also protecting her from the horrors she had faced.

When would those memories come back? How would Kara handle them when they did? Alex knew her little sister. Those old memories would eventually resurface. Her brain waves were normal, no sign of any brain damage. If some memories were in her head, all of them were. The bad ones were a ticking time bomb that could be unleashed at any moment.

So the older sister had to defuse the bomb before it blew up in all their faces.

How to do that?

"Are you sleepy? Why don't we lay down in your bed? I bet when you wake up in the morning things will be a lot clearer." Alex suggested, hoping that wasn't the case.

The blonde shook her head. "I have a feeling I have been sleeping for a long time. I feel great. It's dark outside. Do you want to go flying, Clark?"

"No!" Alex and Eliza said together.

Eliza looked sheepishly at an annoyed Alex and then to Kara.

"Kara, the world thinks Supergirl is dead. It has to stay that way. Do you remember those...churches, the ones that...worshipped you?"

Kara thought about it. It was fuzzy but there. She had landed inside one and...

"I told them to stop. It was just the one. There weren't a lot of people there." the girl told her mother.

"There were a lot more." Jeremiah explained. "More than you could stop. Even the ones you talked to...the point is, the world thinks you died a year ago. If they see you flying around, even by accident the stories are going to spread like wildfire. They will think you have risen from the dead."

Kara looked blankly at them for a moment then laughed softly.

"I guess technically I have." she told them. "I can talk to those people..."

"There are thousands Kara, maybe tens of thousands." Jeremiah told her. "If they see that you have risen from the dead the result could mean...a lot of bad things could happen. Religious wars, political wars...the world needs to believe Supergirl is dead. We can't take chances. I know you have a lot of...energy right now, but you have to stay low. Do you understand?"

Kara did she supposed. It was a bit frustrating but a look at Alex told her the older sister agreed with her parents, so Kara would go along.

"And what about me? Kara?" she asked. "Does the world, or Midvale at least, think I am dead?"

Alex shook her head quickly. "No. We told everyone you got a job in Paris. No one asked any questions."

"Why?" the blonde asked. "If you thought I was dead, why lie? Why not just..." Clearly at a loss for words, she looked to her sister for answers.

"Because I knew you weren't dead." Alex told her decisively, gripping her sister's hand even tighter. "I was waiting for you to come home, back to our life and you did. Kara Danvers is all that matters now. Supergirl is dead. She gave up her life for this planet and she has done enough. No matter what, you can never be...her...again.

Kara thought of asking more questions. She had a million of them at least, but her family looked exhausted, even Clark.

"Okay, no flying, I promise." she agreed. "But I think you should all go to sleep. You look very tired. I know it has been a long day."

"I'll sleep when you do." Alex told her.

Jeremiah knew Clark, Eliza and he would not be going anywhere tonight. He also knew Alex wouldn't sleep unless Kara slept and she desperately needed to rest.

"Kara, do you remember the tiara Alex made for you? The one you wore when you couldn't sleep well?" he asked, treading carefully.

Kara actually snorted. "A tiara?"

"A crystal one." Eliza confirmed. "From the crystals in the Fortress. It helped you rest. I'm not sure if it will work, but I think we all need rest, right?"

"No! It's too soon." Alex told them. That crystal had always been successful in helping her little sister have a dreamless sleep, but what if it didn't work? What if it opened her mind to memories she wasn't ready to handle? "Kara, if you aren't tired, would you at least get into bed with me? You can hold me while I sleep, right? I don't want you out of my sight yet, okay? Not yet."

Kara saw the desperation on her sister's face. She didn't want to leave her either. If sitting up all night was what it took for Alex to get some sleep, she would do it.

"Of course, but I'm not going to stand in the bathroom with you. You smell like...smoke? I guess there was a lot of it at my crash site, huh? You need a shower. I'll be right outside the bathroom..." Kara stopped speaking for a minute. Waiting outside a bathroom? Why did that sound so familiar?

"Kara? You okay?" Alex asked concerned, knowing what her little sister was thinking

Kara shook her head. "Yeah, just hurry up. You need sleep. I won't go anywhere, I promise."

 **Gotham City Bat Cave**

Bruce Wayne sat in front of the large monitor feeding him information from around the world. He had not changed suits, only pulled back his cowl, too tired to do anything else. Alfred had gone to bed, but Bruce stubbornly refused. Instead, he watched news reports on the deaths worldwide related to the so called day of peace and remembrance. He had stopped a bomb from detonating today, saved thousands of lives, but he took no joy from it. The worldwide death toll had topped 5,000. Anti-alien hate groups attacking pro alien groups, jihadist terror attacks, White Martians doing whatever they could to ruin a day devoted to their greatest enemy. Various religions argued on the streets, often resorting to fighting, and the world debated every statement the leaders of the major religions had on the life and death of Supergirl and what it meant for the world.

It made him sick. He felt the need to find someone to fight, which meant he should stay in. After what happened to Kara, the argument he and Diana had afterward, Bruce swore he would never kill another alien despite his agreement with Kara in the past. He handled aliens her way and she handled humans his way. It worked, for the most part.

Bruce also realized he used it as an excuse to feed the part of him that called for blood.

"Please tell me I surprised you for once." Dick asked, walking quietly behind him.

"I knew you were here ten minutes ago." Batman responded. "What brings you here from Chicago? I thought you would be celebrating with your team. You all did well today."

Dick Grayson shrugged his shoulders and took a seat next to Bruce.

"It was just the usual. Six White Martians. Gar, Victor and I did our best to survive, Wally figured out that lightning bolts don't do a hell of a lot to a White Martian, Raven scared the hell out of half of them, then Kori showed up and blew them to hell. Only thing I have ever seen that burns hotter than Kori's star bolts was...anyway, it seemed the trouble has ended so I thought I would come...check on you."

Bruce shook his head slightly. "I don't need anyone to check on me. Alfred has been hovering all day. I can handle myself." he told his former partner, a man who was his son in every way in Bruce's mind.

"So maybe I didn't want to be alone tonight." Dick responded casually.

"You weren't." Bruce pointed out. "You have a team, a good team and you do good work. You aren't alone, Dick."

Grayson said nothing for a few moments, not really wanting to say anything at all. Despite Dick's penchant for talking constantly, he enjoyed these times of silence with Bruce.

The younger man finally cleared his throat. "You had a good team. Have you spoken to them..."

"I work better alone." Batman cut him off. "I don't need a team to protect Gotham and protecting Gotham is why I do this. I forgot that for too long. The criminals thought they were safe while I was out saving the world with my team. They needed reminding that this is still my city."

Despite his desire not to, Bruce's thoughts drifted back to a year ago.

Kara was gone. The League had returned to the Batcave. Bruce should have been rushing to get to Alex at Patterson Air Force Base.

Instead, he asked Diana what the hell she had been thinking.

"I think it is a tragedy, one that..." Diana started to say before Batman interrupted.

"You were going to kill her!" Bruce had shouted. "There would have been another way. You should have had faith in her, faith that she could fight back like she did, but I saw your hand. You were reaching for your sword!"

"I read it in your mind, Diana." J'onn told her. "I would have stopped you."

"You think that is what Kara would have wanted?" Diana asked, looking incredulously at both men. "To cease to exist, her body taken over by a monster who would use it to kill perhaps millions? She would have asked me to stop her before that happened and you know it!"

"You knew nothing of what she was facing until you got there. You had one minute of information." Bruce pointed out. "You thought you could make a call based on that?"

"You appointed me leader! I had to make a call and time was short! We couldn't let that thing inside her loose!" Diana argued.

"We could have found another way! We had the firepower, the Lanterns..." Bruce countered before Diana cut him off.

"The Lanterns?" Diana asked him pointedly. "The ones you have so little faith in? Tell me Stewart, could the Lanterns have stopped it once it took control of her?"

Stewart said nothing, his face impassive.

"She is right, Bruce." Curry cut in.

"No, she isn't." Barry responded heatedly. "We could have, we should have found another way."

The division led to a moment of silence until Alfred walked up to Diana. Standing tall before the incensed Amazon, he drew his shoulders back, staring her straight in the eye.

"If you would have struck her, I would have done everything in my considerable power to see you dead." he told her in a quiet voice, daring her to reply. Seeing the shock of understanding in Diana's eyes, he turned and walked away.

No one had a response leading to more silence.

After a moment, Bruce's anger and distrust made the decision for him. "This is over for me. Do what you want with this team but get the hell out of my cave. I am done. Try to replace her work or go back into hiding, Diana. Just get out of my sight."

Diana stiffened, sorrow heavy in her eyes, before she nodded and walked out. The rest of the group slowly dispersed until only J'onn and Bruce were left behind.

"We need to get to Alex." the Martian reminded his friend.

Bruce agreed. Action. He needed to do something. He needed to get Alex to the Block.

"I'll have it arranged for her to be transferred. Get on Brother Eye and check the security feeds from the surgical suite. Alfred can arrange transport for the Danvers. As soon as she is stable, I want her at the Block."

Bruce walked away, his mind on the tasks at hand, trying to forget the look on Gardner's face when he said Kara sent herself into the sun. Bruce was good at reading people and Gardner had not been lying. That hurt the worst so he blocked it out.

That was the day the Justice League's short existence ended. He and J'onn kept in regular contact, but the Martian was the only one he considered a friend. J'onn fought crime as much as he could in Metropolis. Diana appeared occasionally on the London news, stopping the occasional crime or terrorist plot. Curry disappeared, most likely back to Atlantis.

With Kara dead, the Guardians no longer had reason to fear. They instructed the Lanterns of Earth to return to Oa and be reassigned leaving Earth unprotected. The four members gave up their rings rather than leave their home planet.

Lobo hunted Diasporans in space, keeping an eye and ear out for plots against Earth and checking in with Bruce every couple months. He felt it was what Kara would have wanted him to do.

Alex went on a mission to wipe out the remaining Cadmus cells before the doctor had even cleared her for normal everyday work.

Barry Allen disappeared somewhere in Europe, having never returned to Central City. Bruce could have found him easily but didn't see the point.

Dante Youngblood never returned from the Amazon. After Kara was gone, after they all understood what happened, the man disappeared into the Rain Forest and had not been seen since.

Kara's death impacted many lives that day, lives that changed irrevocably.

"Bruce?"

Blinking his eyes, Bruce pulled himself out his memories of the past to focus on the present.

"What?"

"Getting lost in thought old man? Isn't that what old timers do?" Grayson asked, trying to bring some levity to the room. He had come to be here for Bruce, to try and keep the man from brooding all night or from unleashing his rage onto some unsuspecting low level street dealer. Batman would be looking for any excuse to hurt someone tonight.

"It should have been me." Bruce told him quietly. "I had more experience at gliding. I was so determined to get on that ship, that I...if I had gone after that glow bug, Alex could have been near Kara's side. She would have figured something out, something to save her, helped her fight back harder. I went along with it though. I got onto the ship, found out nothing Kara didn't know when I got to her, could do nothing to stop it. Alex almost died and I did nothing but stand by, watching that black goo invading Kara's body, her mind. Why didn't I go after Flower, Dick?"

"You can second guess yourself forever. It didn't matter. Those two were going to do what they did regardless." Dick reminded him.

"And I could have talked them out of it. Instead I followed Kara's lead. I sat back and let her save the world again and let Alex pull off a mission that had a high risk of death."

Grayson sighed, knowing nothing he said would do any good. He had listened to Bruce second guess himself many times over the past year and before that. Second guessing, blaming himself, torturing himself over things he had no control over, that was who Batman was.

"I loved her too, you know."

Bruce nodded his head. "You two weren't good for each other, but I never doubted that you loved her. Not once did I ever doubt that."

"I wish I could have been there, doing something, anything. I could have...I could have made that jump instead of Alex. Gar could have transformed into a bird or something and..."

"You and your team protected the one US city the Diasporans actually managed to land ground troops in. I've seen the videos Dick. Your team fought like gods. Kara would have been proud."

Dick closed his eyes and leaned back in the chair, trying not to think about that day. Yes, his team, the people he brought together and made into a family had fought like hell and won. The Earth had won. Three hours later, Alfred had called him, at what Dick lovingly referred to as Titans Tower, and told him what the cost of that victory had been.

"Talk to J'onn today?"

Bruce shook his head. He and J'onn remained close friends, but both had a lot going on today and into the night.

"Talk to Alex?" Dick hoped.

Bruce shook his head again. "I tried. I called the house and no answer. I called Kelex who told me Alex didn't want to talk today and was at home, alone. I called Eliza...she said they were giving Alex space. It was strange. When has Eliza ever given Alex space? I felt like she was...I suppose it is a painful day for the family, but I felt like Eliza was not telling me something."

"You don't think Alex got drunk or tried to kill herself, do you?" Grayson asked worriedly. He had talked to Alex at least once a month and knew she obviously wasn't the same person she had been. Had she fallen into Kara's old habits?

Batman shook his head. "Alex doesn't drink and never will. She wouldn't do that to Kara's memory or to Clark. She wouldn't try to kill herself, ever. But... it's probably nothing. Like I said, they are in pain. It's hard to tell what a person is thinking on a day like this. I visited my parents...the place. Diana went with me last year at Kara's insistence because she couldn't go. Every year before that, Kara was always with me on that day. This year..."

Bruce let the sentence go unfinished. The loss of his friend, even after a year still felt like a knife in his ribs.

The two sat the rest of the night in silence. Though both would never admit it, Batman and Robin needed to be near each other at times. It kept them both sane.

 **Midvale, the next morning**

Kara had been up all night, lying on her side for most of that time with Alex curled into her arms. Her older sister slept fitfully, waking every hour to seek her face in the darkness.

Eliza and Jeremiah had seemingly worked out a schedule between the two, one staying awake while the other tried to sleep. Every two hours one of them would walk the hall from Alex's bedroom to Kara's where she held her sister. Seeing the blonde was still present they would wander back to bed.

This reminded Kara of something, but she couldn't place her finger on it. The blonde felt Jeremiah and Eliza had done this before, checking on her constantly at night.

But why would they have done that? Their actions tonight she understood. They had thought her dead for a year, were shocked that she was alive and hoping it wasn't a dream. Still, the familiarity of it bothered her.

Her memories were jumbled and that was frustrating. She wanted to remember everything. It was obvious to her Clark was lying tonight, but she picked up some nuggets of truth.

She most likely had fought Doomsday though she had no idea how she could have won. For that matter how did she defeat an invasion? Reign must have been there. How did Alex defeat Flower of Heaven?

Why could she remember some birthdays and not others? Her sense of time was shattered. She remembered her motorcycle, rebuilding it, starting her up for the first time, but not how old she had been.

Kara remembered the night she had found Streaky on her bike, but could not remember what she had done in the hours that led her to that alley.

The cat in question was sleeping deeply behind her, a paw in her hair.

Clark tried to stay up as long as possible, obviously watching Kara from the guest room with his X Ray vision, but finally fell asleep at 3 AM.

At five AM, Kara had her chance to find answers. Alex was in a deep sleep and Eliza and Jeremiah had both fallen to exhaustion.

Kara slowly slipped her arms from around Alex and moved quickly, so fast Streaky barely noticed her pulling away.

She came back from Alex's room and sat down on the bed carefully so as not to disturb her sister or cat, then opened Alex's laptop.

What had happened in the past year?

More importantly, what had happened in the years leading up to her final battle that caused her supposed death?

Calling up a simple search for Supergirl, the first result caught her attention, a downloadable book for sell.

 _ **The Life and Death of Supergirl, by Lois Lane**_.

The book downloaded in seconds and two minutes later, Kara had read the large volume twice.

Lost in thought, she walked to her bedroom window and stared at the ocean beyond.

Two hours later, Alex woke suddenly, turning in bed and grasping for Kara. Stretching out, she found nothing but empty space. Had it been a dream? Where was she? Alex had felt her last night, felt her sister's arms around her and had held on tight, afraid to let go.

Sitting up quickly, she saw the laptop, powered up and sitting on the bed.

"I'm here, Alex." Kara's voice called to her.

Alex turned to the window where Kara stood with her arms crossed. The blonde turned to her older sister and smiled.

"I thought...I thought it was a dream for a moment." Alex admitted, her heart rate slowing.

"I'm sorry I let you go. I planned to stay in bed, but I needed answers. I knew Clark was lying last night."

Alex was not surprised by the revelation. She shouldn't have let the boy weave a tale that would not hold up very long. Still, the older sister hoped that he would have satisfied Kara's curiosity for one night.

Alex followed Kara's eyes to the laptop on the bed and pulled it into her lap.

Numerous links were open, Lois Lane's book had been downloaded, Daily Planet and Catco Archive news sites covering the worldwide events of the day before.

"I think we should spend some time in the Fortress, just the two of us this morning." Kara suggested. "I have so much energy I can't stand it. Perhaps bathing in red sun rays may help. I have to counter all this solar energy in my cells some way if I can't...let loose. I also need answers. I want you to tell me the truth."

Alex felt her chest tighten. "I'm...I'm not sure if you are ready for the whole truth." she admitted.

Kara shook her head and lay down on the bed, drawing Alex to her.

"I want to know why I can't remember huge chunks of my childhood, here and on Krypton. I want to know why I announced to the entire world that I was an alcoholic and drug addict. I want to know why I tried to kill myself two years before that. I want to know why I was wearing gloves at the press conference. I want to know about the red ring you asked me if I remembered. I want to know why you have clean surgical scars on your abdomen. I need to know Alex. I need you to tell me the truth."


	5. Chapter 5

Do not own DC or CW characters

Chapter 5 Family Tension

The conversation Kara wished to have with her sister had been held up for an hour. Though Kara remembered on some level that she didn't need to eat, the hunger she felt was real and the family made their way to Eliza and Jeremiah's home. Kara managed to go through three large stacks of pancakes, six scrambled eggs and a loaf of toasted bread while the others watched every move she made.

Telling her parents and brother she needed to speak to Alex in the Fortress alone did not go over well, especially with Clark. The three looked at each other, agitation obvious on their faces. Kara had just returned. Despite Clark watching her all night and the parents taking turns checking on her, they did not want to let her out of their sight. Clark wondered if Alex would tell Kara...tell her that they had all given up on her, even him.

Still no one would turn Kara down. They couldn't even though they wanted to stop the two. If nothing else Alex and Kara would resort to using their 'sister language' to communicate in front of them. Clark was nowhere skilled enough to keep up with those two when they began speaking Kryptonese.

After Kara gave several assurances she would not disappear and several hugs, the girls left, even Kelex stayed behind and promised not to monitor their conversation.

As soon as they arrived, Alex manually input commands for Justin to bathe the Fortress in red sun rays, then retrieved one of Kara's red sun bracelets hoping the combination would alleviate more of her sister's restlessness due to the high solar absorption in her cells.

They settled down together, getting comfortable on one of the loungers, knowing they needed the close contact to sustain them through the difficult conversation. Putting aside her discomfort, Alex began telling Kara a less edited, more accurate account of their past. Any questions Kara had, Alex answered as honestly as she could, careful to leave out the horrors, but knowing Kara could tell if she was lying. The last thing Alex wanted was for Kara to not trust her, regardless of her reasons for withholding information.

"We should have stopped after Myriad. I should have never let us keep going." Kara whispered, soaking in the conversation with her sister that had lasted the past three hours.

"Yeah...probably." Alex agreed hesitantly, then with more conviction. "We should have quit after Myriad. But...you still started drinking right after...we could have stopped then. I should have stopped it. I never..."

"I went along with a crazy plan that almost killed you!" Kara snapped. "You have scars on your body and not just from that Worldkiller, scars because of me! Because I needed you to keep me from losing myself! This is not on you!"

Alex closed the space between them and pulled her close, wrapping her sister securely in her arms, letting her know they were safe now, they were together. "No, Kara, we made the decision together to keep going. I was trained to be able to fight by your side and I did, I wanted to. Despite all the bad, we did a lot of good. So, please understand, it's not all on you."

Giving Kara a squeeze, Alex began to rub her back, knowing it would help settle her down. "You also protected me by creating some badass armor and weapons for me to use. We made a formidable team, Kara, like we always have. We always will."

Taking a deep breath, the blonde buried her face in Alex's shoulder trying to calm herself. She had listened closely to Alex, reading her face for any signs of deception. Alex started with Myriad, refusing to get into Kara's past before that. It would be too much.

Kara remembered meeting Batman, some of her first meeting with Lobo and that he was now their close friend. She even remembered killing Non.

The girl remembered more than she thought she had of her life, times of joy, times of celebration, hugs from Clark, even his first steps, taken on this planet.

But there was so much missing.

Kara gripped her sister a little tighter, controlling her strength, but needing to feel the contact, knowing Alex was really here with her.

"I need to know more. I need to know everything. Not just Atrocitus and these so called Lanterns, or even Doomsday and the Worldkillers. I need to know everything. There is so much of my life missing. Why? Why can I remember so many good things and nothing else? I know I am missing a lot Alex. Tell me."

Alex heard the plea in Kara's voice as she carefully considered what to say. A quick glance of the monitors behind Kara told Alex what she feared. The solar power her cells were metabolizing was lessening. The red solar energy was slowly returning her to normal.

This could be good or bad in the brunette's mind. While Alex certainly did not want Kara to have her Kryptonian power, her rebuilt body was also returning to a Kryptonian version of normal.

Would her brainwaves go back to their previous state? Would her entire set of memories return and how could she deal with that?

Would she still be susceptible to physical addiction?

Of course she would, Alex realized. While her body had been rebuilt and was no longer craving drugs or alcohol, her addictions would still exist within her mind. Once those memories started returning, Alex knew her addictions would as well.

The only hope she had of her sister remaining somewhat at peace was the fact Kara remembered every good thing about her life.

She also seemed to be blocking out every traumatic and violent act she had ever witnessed or caused. The only death Kara could remember was killing Non.

So if the blonde was blocking her negative memories, perhaps her mind was trying to protect itself. Maybe that would be enough to keep Kara from being overrun by the flood of life experiences and memories that haunted her before. Even as her hope flared, her scientific background shouted just as loudly those hopes weren't realistic. Her stomach churning, Alex decided to try to shut down this line of questioning.

"Can't we just rest for now?" Alex answered her question with one of her own. "I...we just got you back. It has been less than 24 hours, Kara. I have waited for you for a year. We have plenty of time to discuss these memories. You really want to sit here while I go over fourteen years of your life on Earth? Clark, Mom and Dad, we should be with them. Let's relax first, then we can talk about what is next."

Alex hoped that would satisfy Kara for now. Instead it opened up another path of questions Alex did not want to address.

Kara pulled back from her, while still keeping a firm grip on her arms. "That's another thing. Last night, what was that all about? The looks, the comments between you and Mom, Clark lying last night? Every time...what is going on with you and our parents?"

Alex closed her eyes and nearly cringed. That was something she definitely didn't want to get into right now. Judging by the determined look on Kara's face, the subject would not be dropped.

The older sister also admitted to herself that a selfish part of her was glad Kara wanted to know.

"They wouldn't believe me. They've always believed me, believed in me, but this time, they didn't. They gave up, they convinced Clark to give up. I knew you were alive. I could feel it and all they did was tell me to move on, to help Clark move on, okay? I never gave up and they did and continually made me feel bad about it. Now they feel like crap and I am glad about it. That's what happened. We barely get along, even though we work together and...and...they gave up, on you, on us!"

Kara watched her strong sister, who had been shaking since Kara woke for the first time in the Fortress, breaking down. The blonde pulled her close again and held her as tight as possible. Despite the red sunlight, Kara knew she was still at full strength and didn't want to hurt her sister.

"Alex..." Kara whispered in her ear while she held her closely, "... I teleported into the sun. I would have thought I was dead too. I should be dead. No one, nothing should be able to survive that. You can't hold it against them. They did what was best for Clark."

"You never would have given up on me." Alex told her, voice muffled by Kara's shoulder.

Kara pulled back and looked into her sister's eyes. "They are our parents and they love us, but they aren't us, Alex. They aren't me and you. You are right, I wouldn't have given up on you, but they aren't connected like we are. You can't judge them for that. I know you are angry, but they did nothing wrong. We are together now. Isn't that what matters?

Alex nodded her head reluctantly, letting the subject drop for now and moved back into Kara's arms.

"I also want to know why you are shaking and your heart rate is elevated. You said I had emotional difficulties? You did too, right? You are still having problems." Kara told her.

She also felt tension in Alex's body even as her sister answered her in a positive tone. "It will be better. Now that you are back, it will be better. I'll be fine."

Kara knew that wouldn't be the case, but did not argue the point now. Her earlier statement still stood. They had time. The family was together. Supergirl was dead and only the Danvers, all five of them, mattered now.

The two girls walked into the transporter and arrived back in the Danvers' basement where their parents, Kelex and little brother had been waiting for who knows how long.

A moment of awkward silence descended.

"It's okay." Kara finally told them. "We are together, that's all that matters right? Clark, are you alright?"

The boy nodded his head slightly. "What did Alex tell you?"

"She told me enough for now." Kara answered carefully, not wanting to make him feel bad about blatantly lying to her. "I don't remember a lot of things, but I know everything...I know I wasn't perfect. I have a feeling I am going to learn a lot of things I don't want to learn, but Alex had a good point. We are together now and that is all that matters. Let's take advantage of it, okay?"

Kelex excused himself, stating he needed to go back to the Fortress and ensure that all was in working order, in his words.

The five gathered in the living room and had seats, Clark curled into Kara's arms while the rest of the family watched her closely. None of them wanted to turn the television on, not wanting to see the recap of yesterday's news.

They sat in silence, none of them knowing what to say.

"Do you still feel strong?" Eliza asked.

The girl nodded her head. "Yeah, but I don't feel like I have this uncontrollable urge to fly into space or send a massive blast of heat vision into the sky. I am getting hungry. I don't need to eat though? I remember that. I guess since I flew through space, I don't need to breathe..."

"All of that can wait." Eliza told her quickly. "I'll cook. What would you like? Anything at all. I went grocery shopping last week and can make all your favorites. Just tell me..."

"I need my memories back." Kara interrupted her, well aware of Eliza's sudden ramblings when wanting to avoid a subject. Some things, it appeared, had not changed in the last year. "Alex thinks I am blocking my bad memories and only retaining my good memories. If it is an emotional block, the physical structure of my brain has nothing to do with it. They could come back in time or all at once. I would rather they not surprise me. Starting in the morning, I need to know everything."

Alex shook her head. "Look at me, Kara. Earlier, you asked me what was wrong. I remember everything and if I could block out all the bad things we have been through, I would. You don't want this. You have a chance to be free, to start over. If those memories come back..."

"If they don't," Kara interrupted, "if I never remember my entire life then I will always be half a person. You all loved me. What I was, good and bad, made me who I was. Was I that bad of a person you would rather me pretend I was someone else?"

"Of course not!" Jeremiah told her quickly. "It's just...things hurt you...deeply. Before you...before you went into the sun, if I had a way to take those memories away forever, you would have taken it in a heartbeat. They did you no good and they could harm you again. Do you remember Barry Allen?"

Kara was surprised by that question. It seemed random to her, a blast from the past she had moved on from. The blonde knew she had made sacrifices to become Supergirl. She had broken away from Lena, from Barry...but why? Why had she cut off contact with Lena and Barry? Lex didn't try to kill her until he found Doomsday a year and a half ago. Before that he obviously made no serious attempt or Alex would have told her unless she didn't consider it worth mentioning with everything else she had revealed to her that morning. Lena knew her secret though, Barry must have and...what happened?

"Yeah. The first date I ever went on. I met him my first week of college and that weekend...we danced. You rented out a restaurant for us, Dad. I had never danced with a boy...or kissed a boy. I...why are you bringing him up now?"

Jeremiah suspected as much. Kara and Alex were both right. Kara had somehow selected the memories she wanted and dismissed the rest.

"Do you remember meeting him again?" he asked carefully.

Kara shrugged her shoulders. "No. I became Supergirl. I was...I was too busy. Besides he didn't fit into the Supergirl lifestyle. We lost touch...when did I meet him again?"

Clark looked sharply at Alex. He had poorly lied the night before, but supposedly Alex had told Kara everything about the past few years. She left out Barry? They dated for over six months.

Alex reached over and took her sister's hand. "I told you about the Justice League, Kara. Barry...Barry was a member and...you didn't like it."

Kara actually snorted as she laughed until she noticed no one else was laughing.

"Barry? A member of Bruce's team? Why would Barry be on that team? Barry Allen isn't exactly vigilante material." she told her family.

Alex took a deep breath. Kara had explained to her when they were spending some much needed sister time during Kara's rehab, the Barry Allen who was the Flash wasn't her Barry Allen from her pre-Supergirl days. Alex realized Kara kept the two versions of Barry separate in her mind which made her breakup with the Flash not all that surprising. So it wasn't unexpected the two Barrys were separated in her memories now either.

Alex laid her palm on Kara's cheek. "See? There are a lot of things you don't want to know. A lot of stuff happened..."

"I want to know." Kara said quietly, placing her hand on Alex's cheek as well. "I have to. Let's relax tonight. Tomorrow we have a lot to do. I realize the world needs to believe I am dead, but Bruce, Alfred, Lobo and J'onn deserve to know. Connolly and Jessica, all of them should know as well. They are our friends, our family. Also...I need to talk to Dante. Its time I did something I should have done a long time ago, but was too afraid to."

"What...what's that?" Jeremiah asked, dreading the answer.

"I wanted to ask him to be my mate when I was 18. I guess I was too afraid. I'm tired of waiting. I am going to ask him. I know he loves me. He needs to know I am alive. We can wait until morning, have the night to ourselves, but he needs to know."

That night while Eliza cooked as much spaghetti as possible, Jeremiah walked out to the front porch.

The sight of Kara by the telescope the two had made together made a smile grace his face.

"You haven't been using it." Kara told him. "The swivel hasn't been used or cleaned for that matter."

The man walked up to his daughter and ran his hand along the top of the cylinder.

"I just couldn't. I couldn't watch the stars without you. I tried, but I couldn't. I thought it would make me feel closer to you, but instead I just felt your loss even more." Jeremiah explained.

Kara took his hand gently.

"It wasn't your fault, Dad. I love you. I will always love you no matter what."

Jeremiah said nothing for a moment, squeezing her hand tightly, head hung low.

"Did it hurt?" he asked quietly, a question that had haunted him since the moment he found out what she had done to save the world.. "When you got there, All this time you were trapped, did it hurt?"

Kara thought for a moment. "I remember a bright light. Sometimes I would retreat in my mind and dream. I could feel my body rebuilding, but no, it didn't hurt. If it did, I don't remember." She paused for a moment before continuing. "I remember being... I felt so...lonely. That's all, I don't remember any pain."

Jeremiah should have felt relieved by this, but didn't. For one, Kara would never tell him the truth if she hurt. The second was the sadness in her voice when she talked about feeling alone. He told her the first night he slept on the roof with her she would never be alone again. He told her he would protect her, but she was the one who always saved him.

"You understand why I want my memories back, don't you? Why I need them?"

He shrugged his shoulders slightly, but said nothing.

"I don't have many memories of Krypton, mostly just the time I spent with Kal...Clark and Alura. I remember some good times with Astra. I hardly have any memories of my father and that doesn't concern me for some reason. I do have one memory that is hazy, but I can't forget the feeling when I am around you."

"Around me?" the man asked, wondering what memory and feeling she was connecting him to.

"I was young, I hadn't been here long. For some reason, I was at a funeral watching from a distance. I don't remember who died or why I was there. I do remember that I was scared and sad and felt very alone."

Jeremiah put an arm around her shoulder and braced himself, wondering if this memory would become clear now and having no idea what to do about it.

"I remember you sitting next to me on a bench, asking me if I wanted to come home. I wasn't that small, but you still picked me up in your arms and carried me the car. I closed my eyes while you held me. I don't think I had ever felt so safe and loved in my life. Every time I am near you, I feel safe. Please don't blame yourself. You have always protected me more than you will ever know. From what Alex has told me so far, the things that happened after Myriad, the things she obviously left out, I must have made life hell for everyone. But none of you gave up on me. You still tried to help me. Don't think you failed me. It would break my heart, okay?"

Jeremiah smiled, and brought her closer, squeezing her tight and knowing he would likely never forgive himself for a multitude of things. Like Kara, he had an ability to feel guilt over things which he had no control and probably always would where his children were involved.

The two walked inside, joining the waiting family around the table. Eliza, Alex and Clark had small plates of spaghetti in front of them while the large bowl resided in the middle.

Kara grinned shyly at those gathered. She had become used to their staring. Understanding what had happened made it clear she was not going to be let out of their sight until they no longer believed they were dreaming.

"Dad, better make a bowl. Once I start, I don't know if I can stop." Kara warned him. The man did as told and Kara attacked the pasta ravenously, though enjoying the taste. When the last noodle was gone, the family sat in silence for a moment, not sure what to do.

"When are you going to put the crystal in her, Dad? She probably needs the Kryptonite serum also." Clark asked suddenly. No one was ready for that question except Alex.

"I think she should sleep in the Fortress tonight, under the red lights." Alex told the boy. "As soon as her skin begins to soften, we can inject the serum over a few days to metabolize with her blood. Once her blood is similar to yours with the serum, I am going to place the crystal back in the same location, attached to her collarbone. I think in seven days she should be fine. First we need to wait for her cells to burn out the massive amounts of solar energy she absorbed. I think..."

"Alex, do you think we might want to talk about this with her?" Eliza interrupted. "I have a number of tests we can run at the Fortress to ensure that any left over solar radiation won't harm her in the long term and only three days with the serum is not enough for a range of comparisons to Clark's blood. With her powers, we know she can't be harmed. Kara won't do anything to alert the world to her return. There is no need to rush."

Alex felt the blood rushing to her face. She didn't want another argument in front of Kara. Her little sister was already worried about a divide in the family. Unfortunately in Alex's mind, this was exactly the kind of crap that was causing the divide.

"I'm not rushing." Alex told her, bitterness evident in her voice. "I have been thinking about this, preparing for this for a year. I can show you my notes if you like. I suspected she may be overloaded, looked at every possible scenario while you were trying to talk me into getting closure and wanting to have a memorial service for her!"

"Alex." Kara said softly, placing her hand over her sister's iron grip on the table edge. "Relax. Let's take it a day at a time, okay? We have no way of knowing how long the red sun ray bracelets and lights in the Fortress will take to level me out. I've been wearing this bracelet non stop and am pretty sure I could still lift a mountain. I will stay in the Fortress until we can get a handle on it and then we can begin talking about what is next, alright? I'm actually kind of sleepy now, so maybe it's time we all turned in. It's not necessary for all of you..."

"We will all be in the Fortress with you Kara." Jeremiah told her. Kara did not argue, instead looking at Alex and pleading with her eyes for her sister to let this go for now.

"Clark, why don't you go to the Fortress with Kara and I will pick up some clothes from our house and meet you both there." Alex ordered in the form of a suggestion. "I'm sure Mom can cook up some food for us in case we get hungry."

Clark stood and took Kara's hand with a smile for her. He was obviously being placed somewhere with Kara so neither of them could listen to what was being said. For once he didn't care. He wanted Kara to himself for a while and did not want to stick around for the argument that was sure to swiftly follow their exit.

Kara was hesitant to leave them in this state but Clark's hopeful smile when he reached out to her was impossible to turn down. The two walked to the basement leaving the other three alone.

In the kitchen, neither her parents nor Alex had moved from their spots. Once they heard the telltale buzz from the transporter in the basement, Eliza spoke first.

"You can't believe this is a good idea to rush her, Alex. We have hundreds of tests we need to perform before we can be certain your course of action is safe!"

"I've been looking at this for almost a year!" Alex yelled standing up, knocking her chair over in the wake of her rising anger. "While you were going to work and moving on, I was killing Cadmus cells to make sure Clark was safe and planning for Kara's return! The only thing that took my mind off of her return was work, that thing you said I buried myself in to avoid dealing with grief, remember?"

"How many damn times do you want me to say I am sorry?!" Eliza asked, standing as well. Jeremiah stayed seated, but prepared to rise if the argument escalated.

"Sorry? I haven't wanted a damn apology from you! I never have. You think I have been waiting all this time so I can tell you 'I told you so'? When I was 14, I told you two that I found and alien girl and a baby in a cave and you believed me! You never doubted me! 14 years later I tell you she could have survived and you believe Shay Veritas! Sorry? Sorry doesn't cut it. I don't want either of your apologies. Understand though, I am making the decisions about her health. She is getting that crystal in as soon as possible. She is done with all this! All she ever wanted to be was human. I'll be damned if I make her feel any less human for longer than necessary! Do we understand each other?!"

When Alex moved closer to Eliza, Jeremiah quickly stood and placed his hands on Alex's tense shoulders, rubbing them soothingly.

"Let's take it back a step. It has been an emotional time for us and we are getting way ahead of ourselves. Kara knows something isn't right with our family and if we want her to feel comfortable and safe we all need to get on the same page, right? Let's take it a day at a time," he suggested, praying it would calm Alex. The girl was shaking, but he wasn't sure if it was anger or anxiety. This was the first time she had been away from Kara since she found her little sister, even if it was for only a few moments.

"Can we talk about her memories?" Jeremiah suggested.

Alex shrugged her shoulders and moved away from him, causing his hands to drop. "She has an emotional block, not a physical block. They are going to come back. We need to control how they return and how she deals with each one. Eventually, she is going to go out, see a bar, see a bottle of whiskey. You think that won't trigger memories? She is going to watch the News, she has already read that damn book. When I told her we beat Myriad, she never asked who killed Astra, but she knows. She knows in her heart that she did. Eventually that night is going to return to her. She is going to figure out the House of El's role in the destruction of Krypton and it is no secret that Zor El made Doomsday and the Worldkillers. The only thing we can do is try to give her information in an orderly fashion and talk her through each event. Hopefully, she can begin to find a true peace, like she was doing before that damn red ring."

"So Jessica? Jessica went through everything with her. Maybe she can talk her through it again?" Jeremiah suggested, Eliza nodding her head in agreement.

"No. It has to be Leslie." Alex told him. "Leslie made more progress in a year with Kara than Jess did in twelve years."

"Leslie is too brusque. She isn't what Kara needs right now." Eliza argued.

Alex's eyes narrowed, the tension in her body almost palpable. "Maybe you weren't paying attention, but I remember telling you I would be making the decisions in regards to her health."

Eliza stepped closer to her daughter. "Then you should remember me not agreeing."

Losing the tenuous hold on her growing anger, Alex closed the distance until she was right in her mother's face. Her fists clenched at her sides, Alex forced the woman back, her mother's eyes wide as fear and shock blossomed across her face. "I do not care whether you agree or not. Kelex and I have spent months running the numbers. I told you my notes are available if you want to see them. If Kara disagrees, has questions or any doubts, I will discuss it with her and will adjust things accordingly. I won't force her to do anything she isn't comfortable doing. Also, just in case you forgot, I control the fortress and all access to it. So if you want to have any part in her recovery, you need to back off. We will do this my way and that is not up for debate!"

"Alex," Jeremiah stepped in, panic written all over his face as he hoped to halt a situation that was rapidly becoming volatile. Trying to get her focus on him and off Eliza, he continued in a soothing tone. "We just want to understand. This is the same Leslie who suggested you take anxiety meds and antidepressants, begin dealing with your grief and trauma and forget your...mission? You told her to never let you see her face again, remember?"

Hearing his voice brought her back to the moment. Alex shook her head, visibly shuddering and forcing herself to back down before she succumbed to her instincts and physically attacked her mother. That jarring thought alone was enough to break through the haze of rage threatening her restraint. Seeing the distraught look in their eyes, she was distressed to realize her control had slipped. She took a few steps back, closed her eyes and lowered her head. Remembering her training, she took several deep breaths to calm and center herself.

When she felt settled, she raised her head and answered him in a normal tone, though she was still shaken. "You are right, but this isn't about me. She will do it for Kara. It has to be soon. Kara will want to see J'onn, Bruce, Alfred, the guys, Jess, all of them sooner rather than later. Seeing Alfred may trigger memories of AA or her time in the Block. I am also going to have to explain what happened with Dante and I don't even know where to begin."

"Perhaps you could try it out on me?" the father suggested. "Since when was Kara in love with Dante?"

"Since she met him probably. It got worse as she grew. She fell for him hard and kept looking for signs as she got older that he may feel the same way. She talked herself into seeing things that weren't there. When she turned 18, she asked him to be her mate and he turned her down."

Alex felt herself relaxing, feeling some tension leave her body since the conversation had turned for a bit from confrontational to one of explanation.

"Kara always told me that Alura promised her she could choose her own mate from the list of candidates. This was a big deal on Krypton since not many got to choose their mates. Losing her planet, her culture, her customs…" Alex stopped speaking, trying to figure out how best to voice her thoughts without betraying Kara's confidence.

She sighed, not wanting to explain something she knew Kara considered private, but knowing they needed to know in order to understand. "Spending her teenage years on earth didn't change her view on mating. Kara decided early on that Dante was going to be her mate. He turned her down...I'm not sure what happened after her suicide attempt, but I suspect she may have tried, hoped...but he must have turned her down again obviously. I have no doubt it was the cause of the split even if the two never gave me details. Kryptonians mate for life, remember? Once she chose and was rejected, it hurt her more deeply than even she would admit. She would never have any other man in her life, not really."

Eliza sat down, remembering her daughter's fascination as well, but hoping it had been a passing phase. Alex had assured her in college that Kara had handled the rejection and the mother hoped the brief long distance affair with Barry Allen before Supergirl ever lived was a sign of this.

"She loved Barry. She may not have loved Dick Grayson, but she loved Barry." Eliza said, still upset at her daughter's reaction minutes before, though now hoping what Alex was saying wasn't true. "Dante and Kara reconciled at the Block, she started dating Barry, things were going well. She could still find romantic love."

Alex snorted. "Remember the Killer Frost incident at S.T.A.R.?"

"Of course." Jeremiah told her. "Hard to forget. Caitlin had been under her darker self's control and Kara recognized it so she..."

"Kara could have handled that a dozen ways." Alex cut him off. "She could have placed a dampener on Snow, recorded her words and sent it to Dante, asked Caitlin to demonstrate the dampener in front of the group to test if it was working. Instead she had a screwdriver in her hand and was seconds away from stabbing the woman in the throat if Barry hadn't stopped her. Pretty violent response, even for Kara at the time, don't you think? But what happened minutes before she talked to Killer Frost? Kara found her and Dante kissing. She found her chosen mate, who had rejected her, in the arms of another woman and looked for any excuse to kill Caitlin Snow. She barely spoke to them at Bruce's Christmas party a month later. Wouldn't talk to Dante at all despite their reconciliation.

"Now all she remembers are the signs she misinterpreted from her teenage years as love and believes Dante will be waiting for her. How do I explain that he disappeared into the Amazon rainforest after her supposed death because of guilt? That he never loved her the way she wanted. She may have loved Barry Allen, but Dante will always be the one for her. It's why she kept Dick Grayson at a distance, broke up with Barry Allen when she realized he wasn't the Barry from her college days because that Barry died the day the Flash was born. I am going to have to explain this all to her.

"I am big enough to admit I need help. I am contacting Leslie tomorrow. She will come. She has too."


	6. Chapter 6

**Do own DC or CW characters**

 **Chapter 6**

"I'm glad we are alone for a little while. I haven't gotten a chance to really talk to you since I have been...back, I guess you could say." Kara said to the not-so-little boy whose back was to her.

Clark turned towards her with puffy, red eyes.

"I missed you." he told her quietly, then added, "I gave up on you. I thought you were dead. Alex told me you weren't, that she just had to figure out a way to get you home, but I didn't believe her."

"It's okay." Kara assured him, recognizing the guilt in his voice.

Clark shook his head. "Alex told me once that when I was little, when I was a baby and you would get upset, I would know, even before you cried. She said the two of us were linked, that whenever you needed to feel better, I would always run to you, no matter what. When did that change? When did you and Alex become closer...I should have been better. I shouldn't have been scared of you. I know you don't remember some stuff, but there was a time I was scared of you. I know it hurt you. Maybe if I hadn't, maybe I would have known you were alive. I would have never doubted."

Kara wrapped the boy in a hug. His arms remained at his side, but he lay his head on her shoulder and cried, his body shaking with sobs.

"Don't cry, Little One. You and I will always be connected. I won't leave you, ever again. I am so sorry. I never wanted to hurt you."

"You should have stopped after Myriad." He finally told her, stepping back. "This world never deserved your help. Neither of you. Alex almost died, you almost died and for what? We should have run, left this planet when we found out about Atrocitus. That stupid Justice League could have fought and we would be together and free. Mom, Dad, Alex... we could have all gone somewhere, anywhere."

Kara shook her head. "From what I understood from Alex, Atrocitus would have found me anywhere I went."

"Not if you had stopped being Supergirl after Myriad! He would have thought you were gone, he probably wouldn't have even thought about you!" Clark snapped. "You were happy. We were all finally happy and that monster hit Metropolis and you had to fight it! You and Alex almost died! Again! And I had to watch and couldn't do anything!"

It was obvious the boy was on the edge of breaking down again and Kara knew she had to calm him somehow. She took a deep breath and pulled him by the hand to a crystal table in North end of the Fortress and had a seat.

"Let's take a moment, okay? I know you are upset, but what I did, what we did, had to be done. This planet, Earth, is our home. Neither Alex nor I would have let it be left unprotected, not while Doomsday walked it, not when the Worldkillers and Diasporans arrived. One day, when you wear that symbol on your chest you will understand..."

"I want nothing to do with that stupid symbol." he spat out.

Kara looked at the table top and folded her hands. "Did I do so much wrong that it means nothing now?"

"No!" he quickly told her. "You saved humans so many times...but that symbol. Alex would get mad if I told you, but if you had your memories you would know. Maybe I get why you kept being Supergirl, but why you kept wearing that symbol, I will never understand."

Kara smiled sadly and reached across the table to take his hand.

"I don't remember a lot of my childhood. I remember the good things and Alex thinks I am blocking out the bad. Since I don't remember much about our parents, I am guessing there was a lot of stuff about our family that was bad. Alex told me we stopped Myriad, but she never said how we stopped Astra. I know I probably I killed her. I don't remember Zor El or your father… or your mother for that matter. I do know why I wore that symbol though.

"It wasn't just the House of El. It meant hope and I must have needed that. I wanted you to have that. Hope that everything would be okay, hope that the world could be better. Not just Earth, but any world could be better."

The boy shook his head quickly. "There is no hope for this planet. Humans don't deserve our help."

Kara was shocked by the bitterness in his voice. She desperately wanted her memories back. Had she done this to him? Kara knew she must have made many mistakes, put him through hell with her addictions, but why hate the human race?

"Our family is human. Do they not deserve our help?" she asked.

"Our family is different. They aren't like humans. We are..." he started, but clearly couldn't finish the thought.

"Better?" she guessed he would say.

The boy slightly nodded his head.

"You think only the planets who have citizens that are completely good deserve to live while others suffer? Did Krypton deserve to die?"

"Our House... no, I guess most of them didn't." he admitted, looking down, not meeting her eyes.

"Our house, huh? I am really not going to like what I learn, am I? Did I tell you?

He shrugged his shoulders. "After a while." Clark told her quietly.

Kara stood up. "I won't ask you to tell me. It is obviously bad and you shouldn't have to. My memories aren't completely gone though. I know why I chose to continue to wear this symbol. I remember the days after Myriad when I considered wearing something else. I didn't though because of a bed time story my mother told me. I still remember it was my favorite. I had forgotten it for years on Earth, but after Myriad I finally had time to explore the Fortress a bit more. I found a small room that no one except Alex knows about. It's hidden under the floor and contains the lode crystal, I wasn't planning on showing you until you were older, until you were ready, but I think it's important for you to know now. You need to know the story. Follow me."

Kara and Clark walked the middle of the Fortress where Kelex was waiting.

"I had planned to wait till he was 18 to show him, just as you always had planned." Kelex told her. "I will tell them where you are if they arrive and you are still below."

"Thank you, Kelex."

The floor slid open from a seamless spot like all the doors to the Fortress did. If Kara hadn't shown Clark, he would have never guessed anything was there. He didn't know the Fortress had a basement.

Kara floated down and Clark jumped, his powers dampened by the red lights of the Fortress.

Kara caught him and put him on his feet. It hadn't been a long fall, only twenty feet or so and the room was very small. It was lit up by the small crystal on a pedestal in the middle.

"Is that the lode crystal? The one everything emerged from?" he asked, a bit in awe. Alex had told him how the Fortress had been built, the work they had done studying the area for the correct size, for the security and the carving of the rock and ice, culminating with placing the crystal in the middle of that enormous cave.

"Yep. That's it." she confirmed. "So, I must have told you some pretty bad things to hate that symbol, but to know why it is important, you need to know the story I heard as a girl. It is a story I wasn't sure was more than a fairy tale my mother told me until I found this room."

Kara pressed her palm on the top of the pedestal next to the lode crystal. A hologram appeared in front of Clark so suddenly the boy jumped back. Kara came around to stand behind him, placing her hands on his shoulders.

The hologram was of a dark-haired man, perhaps in his mid-twenties. He didn't wear the traditional Kryptonian clothes Clark had seen in other pictures. Instead, he wore what appeared to be pants resembling leather and a leather-like jacket closed tightly. The jacket appeared to be a mixture of dark, but slightly different scraps of whatever material it was made of. The man's hair was slightly shaggy and unkempt like Clark's and his face had the beginnings of a rough beard.

"You look so much like him." Kara whispered.

"Who is he?"

"This is Seg El, our great grandfather. Vor El, our grandfather was the son of Seg El and Nyssa Vex El. They were heroes of Krypton. They were the ones who brought the city states together, which eventually led to the High Council being formed."

"How? Why?" the boy asked, his eyes not leaving the man in front of him.

"When Brainiac tried to use Myriad on Krypton, it wasn't the first time he had attacked us. The Coluan first attacked one hundred and fifty years before you were born. Nyssa Vex had chosen Seg to be her mate despite him living with the lower class who did not belong to a House. The two gave DNA samples to the Kandor population council, and that would be the child who became our grandfather. Seg's grandfather, Val El, had made it his mission to search the stars and built this very Fortress as a tool. The Kandor ruling council did not heed Val El's warning of an immortal Coluan who was a destroyer of worlds. They insisted he dismantle the Fortress and give the technology to a council led by a zealot religious head of state who ruled them all. He refused, hiding it instead in this crystal and refusing to tell them where the crystal was. Val El was imprisoned and the House of El was stripped of their standing which led Seg to the underbelly of Krypton."

"He was poor?" Clark asked.

"Yes. The House of El was no longer recognized and had been removed from the Science Council. Just as well because from what I understand, Seg never took an interest in science. He wasn't much of a follower of rules, so the military guild never would have worked for him either. He was a fighter though, tough and mouthy, arrested several times for defending people who were abused by the military for their own enjoyment."

Clark wasn't surprised. The man looked like a fighter.

"Brainiac entered the atmosphere and left his ship, walking into the military headquarters with ease. He used parasites to control the heads of our defenses and eventually half the military. The ruling council was slaughtered."

"He did not count on the lower class rising up." Kara continued. "Seg and Nyssa rallied the remaining scattered military, the citizens who had nothing to fight for but their lives, and led a revolt. They defeated Brainiac's slaves and forced Brainiac back to his ship to repair his physical form. Nyssa flew to Argo City and convinced them to establish communications with the other city states. Seg spoke to them over a holo message. The leaders of the other city states had heard Kandor City was in ruins and began discussing surrendering and negotiating with Brainiac before he recovered fully."

"Cowards." Clark whispered and Kara smiled at the indignation in his voice.

"Perhaps, but your great grandfather was not. He refused to surrender. Seg reminded them that they were all Kryptonian and just as in the past when races like the Vrangs and Daxamites tried to enslave us, we would not give up, we would not surrender and we would never ask for mercy from any creature or race. One man, a governor from Kryptonopolis, told the others that fighting such a technologically advanced creature was hopeless.

"Seg told them all that as long as there was an El on Krypton, there would always be hope. He knew he could beat Brainiac, but needed their help. Fight or die, those were the only options."

"How did he win?" Clark asked, engrossed in the story. "He didn't have any powers on Krypton."

Kara smiled remembering her mother tell her that Seg's intellect did not match his bravery, but sometimes bravery was more than enough.

"He took the crystal his grandfather had hidden and reformed the Fortress. Seg used Val El's notes to make a Phantom Zone projector, not one that could be activated and controlled from the surface, only a small one that had to be detonated on site. He would have to find Brainiac, get inside the ship and activate it, sending everything around him, and himself into the Phantom Zone."

"He sacrificed himself?"

Kara nodded, a tear rolling from her eye.

"Yes he did. The armies of Krypton attacked Brainiac's ship en masse allowing Seg to use a skimmer to slip inside. He found Brainiac in the ship and activated the device. The two, along with his ship, were sent to the Phantom Zone."

Clark felt a shiver, his hair standing on edge.

"Nyssa Vex El, sired our grandfather who sired our fathers. She pulled the cities together, formed the planetary council, helped form Krypton into the planet it was when it died. No more divisions between city states, no more upper and lower class, all belonged to a House and all had equal rights."

Clark shook his head. This was the first story he had ever heard about something good the House of El had done.

"Do you see? The House of El may be dead, but our family is alive and this is our world, our home because of our family. As long as a child of Eliza and Jeremiah Danvers lives on this planet there will always be hope. The House of El never mattered, but the symbol does. That symbol to me will always be associated with one man who stood in the face of impossible odds and certain death and won.

"That's why I continued to wear it and that is why you will wear it one day. I know you will because you have his heart. Whatever I may have told you about the House of El, remember who you really are. You are from Earth, you are the son of Eliza and Jeremiah Danvers, and you are the descendant of the greatest hero in the history of Krypton. No planet is perfect. There were many cowards on Krypton but there were many good people who did what was right and gave their lives for others. When you put on that symbol one day remember that... always. You will never be me. You will be better than me. You will be him."

Kara walked to the far wall and placed her palm on a glowing spot. The wall slid open revealing a mannequin of a man's torso with the same jacket Clark saw on Seg El.

"Is that his?" he asked reverently.

Kara nodded, taking it off the mannequin and handing it to Clark.

"He gave it to Nyssa before he went to face Brainiac. I planned to tell you this story and give you this jacket before you put that cape on for the first time. You aren't ready for the cape yet, but I bet the jacket will fit you now. It's yours."

Clark looked at the jacket in his hands with wide-eyed wonder.

"If Brainiac escaped and attacked Krypton again, where is Seg El?"

Kara shrugged her shoulders. She had wondered this herself many times.

"We will probably never know. Let's go up top before Alex, Mom and Dad freak out about me being away from their sight any longer."

When the rest of her family finally joined them in the Fortress, Kara noticed things were very tense between Alex and Eliza while Jeremiah looked nervous, but she decided not to mention it now. Alex had told her how she felt, but until Kara could talk to her mother alone, the blonde had no idea how to heal this obvious rift.

Letting her observations go for now, she decided to turn in for the night. She rolled over into her large bed. Kara always preferred her bed in her house and even at her parents' house, but Kelex did fine work on this one and she had slept on it many times.

Alex slid in next to her and wrapped her arms around her little sister.

"No." Kara told her.

"Yes." Alex countered.

"I still have my powers. I could kick you in my sleep and snap your leg."

"I'll deal with it. Besides, you don't kick in your sleep. Quiet now."

Kara knew better than to argue. They had done this many times in her life and the blonde knew she never won the argument.

The following morning, around 6 AM Eastern Standard Time, Alex was knocked out of the bed. She looked up from the floor and saw Kara sitting up, breathing heavily, with an unreadable look on her face.

"Kara? You okay?" she asked hesitantly.

The blonde took a deep breath and nodded, not looking Alex's way.

"I guess I had a bad dream...or a weird dream. I don't remember...why can't I remember the..." She trailed off and Alex could tell she was upset.

"Calm down." Alex told her, moving quickly back to Kara's side. "Tell me what you do remember, okay?"

Kara looked at her, confusion written on her face. "Did I ever talk to a creepy clown? White face paint, long green hair, scars on the sides of his mouth?"

"Shit." Alex whispered. She felt a chill run the length of her body as she realized the implications of Kara's past horrors starting to surface in her dreams. "Yeah, that's one of those memories we don't need to talk about right now, okay?"

A sound off to the side alerted her. She looked to see Kelex walking into the chamber followed by her parents and little brother. Judging by the looks of concern on their faces, she guessed they had heard the commotion when Kara woke.

"Kelex? Where are you with the preparations?" Alex asked, ignoring her parents, not wanting to start another argument this early in the morning, especially in Kara's presence given she was already unsettled.

"I have made all arrangements per your instructions. Your full itinerary has been downloaded to this data tablet and I am making the final adjustments on Kara's new glasses. They should be ready within the hour." He handed Alex the tablet, their travel plans showing on the display and she began reading the information.

"What is he talking about? Itinerary for what, Alex?" her mother asked suspiciously.

"I asked Kelex to book seats for Kara and me on a flight from Raleigh to the closest major airport from Destin... which looks to be Pensacola, Florida. We're arriving early afternoon." Alex replied, never looking up from the tablet.

Before either of her parents could protest, Alex turned to Kara, directing the rest of the conversation to her. "I've told you about Leslie, how she helped you before. I believe she is the best option to get at the memories you've locked away and can help you deal with them."

She hesitated with revealing her thoughts on Kara's dream, but felt she needed to know to understand Alex's urgency. "The dream you had, I believe it was a memory fragment. I worry you'll unconsciously unlock more memories like this and I don't want that to happen without having Leslie around to help you deal with them. I won't pressure you, but I'm asking you to trust me. You know I wouldn't do anything I feel would hurt you. You know that, right?"

"Alex, you couldn't just call her? Or set up a Skype session? Or... something? I don't feel comfortable with the two of you leaving. Kara just… she… I don't..." Jeremiah trailed off clearly at a loss for words or maybe he didn't want to start an argument either.

"No, I need to see Leslie, face to face, so she knows I'm serious and can tell I'm not lying. Kara needs to go with me because I know Leslie will need to see her and talk with her." Alex answered in an even voice though her stomach was clenching at trying to hold back her temper.

Her mother spoke up then, reaching over to take Kara's hand, while avoiding Alex's intense glare. "Well, if you're set on going, then we'll just go with you. It shouldn't be a problem to arrange time off and pull Clark out of school. Kelex, book three more seats for the flight they're on."

With her temper slipping almost beyond her ability to control, Alex decided it was time to end the game her parents thought they were playing.

Switching to Kryptonese, she gave a different set of instructions to the AI. _"Kelex, ignore her. My sister and I are going alone. No matter what she says or thinks, they can't get off work on short notice and my brother needs to be in school. They've wanted things to be 'normal', so they are going to be 'normal'. Please continue with my earlier instructions….oh, and we'll need the glasses and a com for Kara before we leave."_

Kelex gave the robotic equivalent of a very, very long sigh, then graced her with a slight bow, " _By your command..._ "

Kara giggled at the cheeky AI and looked at her stunned sister. " _Did he just go all 'Cylon' on you?"_

Alex blinked and looked at her sister in pleasant surprise. _"You remember our 'Battlestar Galactica' marathons? Sweet!... And yeah, he did!"_ she added, directing the last bit towards Kelex, trying to project a tone of aggravation towards him and failing miserably.

" _It seemed appropriate,"_ he responded, leaving the sleeping chamber with no further comment.

"Would you two speak in English so we can understand you?" Jeremiah demanded, his voice laced with annoyance.

"You both keep preaching to me about keeping things 'normal' for Clark. Leaving at the drop of a hat with no explanation to the Dean is not normal for you two. You will stay here for Clark, he has school and you both have work. My work schedule has always had built in flexibility. The Dean knows I deal with CDC projects, so my sudden absence will not draw attention like yours would." Alex said.

She continued as calmly as she could, hoping her parents got the message without her having to resort to potential bloodshed. "You being there would be counterproductive anyway. You were not her patients, we were. She won't talk to you or with you there. It has to be the two of us. I will do whatever it takes to convince her to help."

Whether it was her reaction from the day before, or her words really made an impact, her mother nodded, her face drawn in displeasure, her lips pinched. "I'm not happy about this at all, but I guess you leave me no choice. I want you both to call frequently, let us know what's going on. Kara, honey, we just got you back and …. this is hard for me. I just..." Eliza's face fell as she teared up with a sob.

Kara reached over and hugged her mother. "I love you, Mom. I'm not leaving you, just taking a little trip with my big sister, nothing I haven't done before. I need this, you know I do. Honestly, I get the feeling you aren't as opposed to this doctor as you are with me leaving again so soon after coming home."

Eliza tightened her hold on her youngest daughter. "Maybe you're right, but it feels impossible for me to let you go right now."

Alex looked over to her father who was nodding his agreement, obviously as unhappy about the turn of events as Eliza judging by the stressed look on his face.

"Well no one asked me!" Up until now, Clark hadn't said a word, watching the exchange quietly. Seeing their parents agree to let his sisters go on a trip alone was apparently more than he could take. He stormed out of the chamber running towards the transporter.

"Clark, wait!" Kara called out, trying to stop him, but it was too late. Alex felt guilt for accidentally dragging Clark into the middle of the ongoing feud she had with their parents. After trying so hard to be positive for him, Kara's return had removed all restraints she'd put on herself when she was around her Mom and Dad.

"It's okay, Kara, I'll go check on him." Jeremiah sighed, looking back at them, worry on his face, but love in his eyes. "Be careful, take care of each other. Keep in contact with Kelex every step of the way and check in with us. I love you both, more than you will ever know."

With her father gone, Alex looked at her mother who was still holding Kara's hand. Her mother looked distraught, obviously trying not to break down again. "We need to get going so we have time to pack and get to the airport. If you want...we do have a little time for breakfast... umm, if you wouldn't mind cooking."

That was as much of an olive branch as Alex felt like offering. Kara leaned into her, smiling gently.

Eliza gave her oldest a nod, her expression more sad than angry now. "Ok, I'll get started. I'll make a bacon and cheese breakfast quiche with biscuits and gravy on the side. Everything should be ready in about an hour."

Alex nodded and left the chamber to coordinate with Kelex before leaving the Fortress with her sister to pack.

Several hours later, she and Kara were seated comfortably in first class seats on a flight bound for Pensacola, Florida. Upon arrival, they would pick up their rental car, grab some takeout, then travel an hour and a half up the coastal highway to Destin. At the end of this journey was the woman who Alex hoped would be willing to move past their disastrous last meeting and consent to help her sister.

As Kara curled into her while watching a movie, Alex reflected back to the last time she saw Leslie. She had just returned home from wiping out a couple of smaller Cadmus cells and was exhausted.

Letting her mind drift back, Alex leaned into her sister for comfort as she reflected on that encounter, mostly to recall the events as close as she could because she knew Leslie would. The woman could be ruthless when driving a point home.

"Why are you late?" Leslie shouted from the front porch, obviously disgruntled and angry at having to wait the past several hours.

Alex trudged tiredly up the sidewalk to her front door, dropping her equipment bag at her feet as she thought how to answer. She had honestly forgotten Leslie was coming today.

"I was busy taking care of something." Alex knew that answer wasn't going to suffice, so she braced for the incoming verbal assault.

"Yeah, I see that. So, how many did you kill this time? I don't have to ask if you're hurt… I can see physically you're not, but emotionally? How long are you going to continue on this self-appointed mission of yours? How long do you think you can keep doing this? How many people will you have to kill to fill that hole in your heart?" Leslie had softened her voice in volume but not in tone.

"Can we go inside? I'm tired and would like to sit down." Alex asked, hoping to derail the impending rant.

"Of course, by all means, let's make sure you're comfortable." Leslie followed Alex as she let herself into the house and headed to the kitchen for a couple of bottles of water. Offering one to Leslie, Alex sat in her recliner, shaking with the tension and adrenaline running through her body. Leslie sat across from her saying nothing for what seemed like hours. Alex figured the woman was waiting for her to answer the questions she had asked.

"You asked how many? I don't know, not that many. These were two smaller bases, lightly manned, heavily armed. I used their own explosives to blow up them up. I didn't see any survivors, doesn't mean there weren't any. As for how long..." Alex paused, considering her answer to Leslie's last question. "...I will continue until Lillian Luthor and Samuel Lane lie dead at my feet. Kill the head, the body dies. Cadmus will die with them and Clark will be safe… at least from them."

"And the next threat? I know you have your robot and super spy computer searching all potential threats and keeping tabs on suspicious chatter. What are you going to do when that chatter produces a potential threat?" Leslie asked, eyes intent.

"I'm going to eliminate it." Alex replied without hesitation.

"And for how long will you keep at this? After Cadmus is gone, how long will you track possible threats to Clark? To your family?" Leslie kept pushing.

"I will do this for as long as it takes! Kara expects no less from me, she wants me to keep our family safe..." Alex stopped, knowing she just stepped onto the equivalent of a land mine and Leslie wouldn't hesitate to activate it.

"You said 'wants', that Kara 'expects' no less from you." Leslie repeated, leaning forward to hold the younger woman's attention.

Yep, that land mine just blew up in her face. Closing her eyes, Alex started her breathing exercises to calm herself before answering. "Your point?"

"You know my point, Alex." Leslie's tone softened at this statement, attempting to keep the conversation civil. But Alex was excellent at reading body language, even Leslie's. She could see the woman ready to spout off the same rhetoric she continued to have thrown at her from all sides. Still, Alex gave Leslie the answer she knew the woman was resigned to expect from her.

"She's not dead. I can feel it...I feel...her. How many times do I have to tell you this! All of you, the same thing over and over again. You, my parents, Bruce, J'onn… all of you, putting doubts in my head, but my heart knows... I would know if she were really gone. I've told you I don't know how to explain it, but I know she is alive. She is waiting for… something, I don't know what, but she will come back to me." Alex reply was measured, but very heated. She felt herself repeating words she had said for what seemed like a thousand times, knowing no one outside of her and Kara really understood what they were to each other. Her parents lack of faith frustrated and angered her. Everyone else she could give a pass. But, she wasn't giving up on Kara like everyone around her no matter how many times she was told to do so.

Leslie shook her head and sighed, obviously frustrated. "Alex, you can't heal until you are willing to acknowledge the truth. You can't move on until you accept Kara is gone. She isn't coming back and no matter how much you want to believe she is, it doesn't change the facts! She flew into the sun to destroy the Worldkiller and save the world! She knew what she was doing, and in doing it, her thoughts were on her family, on you specifically! Bruce told me what she said before she entered that portal. She wouldn't want you stuck like this, she would want you to grieve then move on! Alex, she would want you to live. It's time to let her go."

Alex heard her words. She understood them and somewhere in the back of her mind, the logical part that sometimes held sway over her actions, she could agree. But her heart, her soul cried out in protest.

Though her anger was slowly building, Alex's reply was soft, but firm in denial. "I'll never let her go. She would hold on for me if the situation were reversed. I know she would."

With a frustrated sigh, it was apparent Leslie was through pulling punches with her. "She is dead, Alex! Kara is dead! Until you get it in your head that she is, you are never going to get better! Is that what you want to continue to do to your parents? To Clark? They need you and you are keeping yourself from them by denying the truth! You are spitting on her memory and her sacrifice by refusing to accept that she is gone and moving on with your life! It would kill her all over again if she could see you like this."

Alex's voice was quivering and though her tone was even, her anger was simmering beneath the surface, ready to erupt. "I wish I could explain it. I wish you could feel what I feel just so you would get off my back. I believe in my sister and I believe in us. Nothing you or anyone else can say to me will get me to change my mind!"

"So you refuse to move on, dishonoring your sister even more?" Leslie continued and Alex finally lost control of her temper.

"Go to hell, Leslie." Alex was on her feet, clinching her fists.

Leslie stood as well, unwilling to back down. "You've mentioned you're still having anxiety attacks so I'm going to assume you aren't taking the meds I've prescribed. I imagine you're still having flashbacks for the same reason. Until you are willing to take the meds and get this fantasy of Kara being alive out of your head, there is nothing I can do to help you. I refuse to return until you are willing to address these issues and accept the truth!"

Speaking barely over a whisper, shaking in her rage, Alex dismissed the doctor. "Then leave. Don't come back. If I ever see you again, I'll kill you."

Looking back now, Alex knew that Leslie couldn't understand the nature of her relationship with Kara, so she wasn't wrong in trying to council Alex to grieve and move on with her life.

Ultimately, the outcome of the argument wasn't surprising. Alex had felt so much pressure in the midst of the naysayers surrounding her, that it became harder and harder to maintain her sanity. So, while she couldn't remove her parents from her life, she could remove Leslie. Having Kara back, confirming Alex had been right, didn't cause Leslie to be wrong given the information she had. Regardless, Alex needed to apologize to the woman for threatening to kill her.

The pilot came on the speaker and announced their decent into Pensacola. A short time later, the sisters gathered their bags and picked up their rental car.

They chatted as they drove, commenting on the scenery along the beautiful coastal highway. Kara did ask a few questions about Leslie. While not wanting to divulge much, Alex felt comfortable telling her Dr. Thompkins had been Kara's therapist for close to a year. She admitted that, while the doctor didn't have a great bedside manner with her patients, she was tops in her field and very competent. She told Kara that, despite their sometimes very loud verbal sparring matches, Leslie had helped Kara immensely. In spite of her own last encounter with the blunt doctor, Alex told Kara there was no one she trusted more to help her little sister.

Leslie lived in a fairly secluded area, her property included a private beach which was inaccessible except by invitation or by boat. The house was surrounded by a wrought iron fence and secured by an electronic gate Alex knew Bruce had insisted be installed and subsequently monitored in the Batcave. Bruce always did look after and take care of his own… sometimes whether they wanted him to or not.

When they arrived, Alex asked Kelex to check to make sure the doctor was home. Once he confirmed she was, he looped the security feed to insure Kara wasn't caught on video, before disengaging the security gate. Alex slowly pulled into the driveway and shut off the engine.

"Wow, this is really nice," Kara commented.

The house, like all houses along the beaches of the Gulf Coast, was built up on stilts to minimize damage due to hurricanes and tropical storms which were a normal hazard of coastal living. The structure looked extremely sound and knowing Bruce, the pylons holding the house up off the ground were probably reinforced using Nth metal. The landscaping included tropical plants and trees spaced around the house in a manner as to provide privacy without losing the aesthetics of the area.

"Yeah, it is beautiful here. I guess she could easily afford it with all the money Bruce paid her just to help us." Alex remarked, fully turning to her sister. "I have to convince her to help you in spite of how abruptly I ended things. I don't know how she will react, so until I break the news that you're back, stay in the car. I don't want her passing out, freaking out or...anything."

Alex handed Kara a hair band. "Here, there's no one around, so don't worry about the glasses, but just in case, tie your hair back. I want her to see you, not your disguise. It will be fine, I promise."

Kara nodded and put her hair up in a simple ponytail, then removed her glasses and slipped them into her pocket.

Alex climbed out of the vehicle and walked up the beautifully landscaped sidewalk, noting the breeze off the Gulf felt warmer than the breeze off the ocean in Midvale. She climbed the staircase leading up to a wide, wrap-around deck.

Alex rang the bell and started her deep breathing exercises to help settle her nerves. She could hear the woman muttering, loudly as she approached the door and then silence. The next moment the door flew open and standing there with a look of incredulity was her infuriating ex-therapist.

"Well... didn't think to see you so soon. No need to ask how you got past Bruce's security. So, since you're here, does this mean your little personal war with Cadmus is over? How many people did you kill, just out of curiosity? Did it make you feel better or stop the nightmares and flashbacks?" Leslie asked, crossing her arms over her chest and leaning against the door frame.

Alex wasn't surprised at Leslie's reaction to seeing her, but she was intrigued by something she said. "You didn't expect to see me so soon? You thought I would eventually seek you out? After I threatened you? Which I am sorry about by the way. Umm…. I don't really do apologies, well, or at all… so … yeah, I'm sorry."

Leslie pinned her with a pointed look. "Alex, believe it or not, I know you. After considering the circumstances, I know you aren't a threat to me. If there is one thing you and Kara had in common, it was your reactions to anything said against the other. I left because I knew I couldn't do anything for you until you were ready for my help. Now, stop stalling and explain why you are here."

Keeping her face void of any emotion and knowing the reaction her next words would elicit, she calmly answered, "Kara's alive. She needs your help."

Leslie groaned, rolling her eyes. "I told you until you got it in your head she was gone you would never get better. You told me to go to hell! If you aren't ready to face the truth why are you here?"

At these words, Alex smirked, unable to contain her grin. Walking to the railing, she signaled her sister to join them. Leslie followed and was now staring at the vehicle.

As soon as Alex saw the door open, her focus shifted back to the doctor so she could memorize her reaction and permanently engrave it in her mind for posterity.

Leslie scrunched her face up, the glare from the afternoon sun reflecting off the windshield into her face, making it hard to see. As Kara approached, Leslie suddenly dropped her arms and grabbed the railing, body ramrod straight, shock clearly evident on her face, her mouth opened but no words came out.

When Kara reached the top of the stairs, she held out her hand in introduction, smiling genuinely at the immobile woman. "Hi! You must be Leslie… Dr. Thompkins. I understand from Alex that you and I used to fight a lot… and for some reason it was a good thing."

Alex watched as Leslie's eyes darted, looking over her sister's face and down her body, ending at her outstretched hand. Slowly, instead of reaching over to shake Kara's hand, Leslie raised both arms and gripped her sister by the shoulders. She whispered then, eyes still wide. "Kara?"

Dropping her hand, Kara nodded, reaching up to lightly grip the doctor by her elbows. After another few moments of staring in shock, the woman moved suddenly, taking Alex by surprise. She engulfed Kara in a hug that could have broken bones if her sister had been human.

What happened next was something Alex never thought she would see, much less believe was even possible. The cold, impersonal, badass, 'tolerates no bullshit' Dr. Leslie Thompkins, broke down in her little sister's arms and cried.


	7. Chapter 7

Do not own DC or CW characters. Hope everyone had a great Holiday season.

 **Chapter 7**

Early that same morning, Bruce entered the Batcave from the elevator, determined he would not be put off today. For the past two days, every attempt to contact the Danvers had been stopped by Kelex. The robot had intercepted all calls to the Danvers' personal phones telling him they needed time alone.

The man had understood this, being one who preferred his solitude and knowing the anniversary of Kara's sacrifice would be hard.

He waited a day and tried to contact Alex.

Kelex was waiting again, denying him contact. Alex was busy, the Danvers needed time alone.

After his fifth attempt last evening, he called J'onn and found the Martian had not been able to speak to them, but was giving them time and space.

Bruce's mind would not stop telling him something was wrong though. He had a good relationship with the Danvers. Alfred did as well and the relationship had continued after Kara's death. Most of the funding for the research Eliza and Jeremiah did at UNC Raleigh was from Wayne Industries' biomedical research division.

The man knew quite a bit about the inner workings of the family from conversations with Jeremiah. He knew the man was worried about his son and daughter. While the parents dealt with grief, the hole Kara left in Clark's life was filling full of bitterness.

Alex was a different story. Alex was filling that hole in herself with blood and isolation. In the past year she had eradicated anti alien terrorist cells, leaving a pile of bodies in her wake. When Alex wasn't fighting a war against those who were a potential threat to Clark, she was burying herself in work. Bruce had tried to encourage her to return to Leslie often, but the woman stubbornly refused.

Bruce and Alfred had talked about this all night and day as their worry grew. The Danvers had never been this silent.

Could Alex have tried to harm herself? Maybe kill herself? Bruce would normally never think such a thing, but with Alex internalizing so much, it was difficult to predict what was in her mind.

Did something happen to Clark? Did he try and harm himself?

Why wouldn't Jeremiah or Eliza reach out to him or J'onn?

Did Eliza have a severe breakdown?

Had Jeremiah finally reached his breaking point?

The man had to know and decided he would not deal with a lying robot over the phone. Instead, he moved to the transporter leading to the Fortress and activated it.

For the first time since it had been installed, the transporter did not come to life. The Fortress was closed to him.

Bruce moved quickly to the console in front of Brother Eye and sent a signal to Kelex.

The robot appeared on the screen seconds later. "Hello Batman. This isn't really a good time."

"Put one of the Danvers on now. I will even take Clark." Bruce was trying to hold his temper, knowing no good would come from antagonizing the robot.

"Now isn't a good time. I assure you they are fine but wish to be alone. The anniversary..." Kelex responded before Bruce cut him off.

"Kelex, stop lying. Even for a machine you aren't good at it. What has happened? Is one of them hurt? Do I need to drag Thompkins to Midvale?"

"No, they just wish for private time and will be respected." Kelex told him curtly.

Bruce desperately wished the robot was human. Kelex may not be good at excuses, but his lack of a human face made reading him difficult.

He tried a different approach, hoping to throw Kelex off and get some truthful answers. "Why is the Fortress cut off from the Batcave?"

Kelex said nothing for a moment and Bruce wondered if the robot would just stay quiet.

"We are having technical difficulties." Kelex finally tried.

Unflinching, Bruce continued to stare at the screen.

Kelex showed his hands. The robot seemed to love human gestures. "You are going to have to trust me. I promise you, none of the Danvers are in danger. There is something going on, but it is a private matter. I have no doubt they will tell you soon, but right now it's rather chaotic and we are dealing with a lot of...stuff. Yes, stuff. Lots of stuff going on, but everyone is fine. If the Danvers do not contact you in two… make that three days, I will do so myself. Until then, I ask that you give them privacy. I do not believe that is much to ask, is it Batman?"

Bruce said nothing, cutting off the feed and standing. He walked to the training area and took off his shirt. The sparring dummy rose from the floor and he began striking.

In normal circumstances, Bruce could lose himself in the movement, the contact, the adrenaline and the technique of various fighting styles. Today it wasn't possible. His conversation with Kelex had only upset him more.

Truthfully, he had no choice. He could not barge into the Danvers house and demand answers. Demanding answers from Alex was useless and would only cause a fight. From the moment the Danvers sisters dramatically entered his life, Bruce always understood that Alex was the reasonable one. When he couldn't get through to Kara, he could get through to Alex and she would calm her little sister. Kara being gone had changed that. He could no longer predict Alex's thoughts or actions.

With an uncharacteristic growl he struck the dummy a final time and backed up, breathing heavily.

How had he let it get to this point? Batman had seen many horrible things in life. Bruce had seen his parents murdered as he stood between them. He had seen the destruction wrought on innocents by the scum of this Earth and other worlds. He had seen the emotional destruction of a family of five, a family he cared for deeply.

Why didn't he get Kara help from the start? He knew she had darkness, but he foolishly hoped he could help her handle it. He should have known he was out of his league when Kara was 19.

A year of second guessing himself over everything related to the Danvers sisters had led him to pinpoint one night that should have told him he was in over his head. It was the first time he had ever seen Kara Danvers drunk and the first time he realized she had more darkness in her heart than he did.

He had taken the elevator to the Batcave to suit up and take the Batmobile on patrol. Though he preferred to fly over the city to cover more area, the sight of the sleek black weapon on wheels rolling down the streets reminded the everyday criminals that Batman was there, watching even the dark corners of Gotham.

When the door opened, he saw a girl seated in front of Brother Eye with her feet kicked up on the console. Bruce assumed it to be Alex or Kara, maybe even Selena, but had a difficult time telling because half the lights in the cave were off.

What he found disturbed him.

He may not have recognized her immediately if not for those bright blue eyes. She was dressed in black denim jeans, a Supergirl tee and her black leather riding jacket.

She also had his mask on. It was too large for her head, but she didn't seem to care.

Bruce was beginning to wonder if she even knew he was there, getting not even as much as a hello. She had an arm laid over the arm rest and the other were on her lap, a large half empty bottle in her hand.

"Kara?"

She turned her head up to him, the dark cowl slightly tilting on her head and smiled.

"Hey there buddy! Pull up a seat. Mi casa, su casa." Kara replied, her words slurring slightly.

Bruce did as she asked, wondering for a moment if she had been struck by some alien that had affected her mind, until he smelt the bottle in her hands. He had never thought about alien alcohol, never dreamed something like that existed which could affect Supergirl.

"Are you okay?" he asked cautiously.

Kara took a long drink from the bottle. "Yep. Just wanted to see what the world looked like from your point of view," she told him.

Her voice sounded slightly drowsy and giddy confirming his suspicions. She was drunk.

Kara pulled off the mask and tossed it to him. "Going out on the prowl tonight, Bruce?"

Bruce didn't answer her. He had too many questions. What was she drinking that could intoxicate her? Why was she drinking whatever that was? What had led her here and why was she sitting alone in the dark with his mask on?

"Are you okay?" he asked again.

Kara snorted in derision. "Me? I'm indestructible. I'm great. Cody Seibert, age 9, died today. Time of death was 10:46 AM. He was getting better, the tumor was shrinking, but then...it didn't...do you know what his favorite flavor of ice cream was?"

"No." he answered softly, but she had plowed on, not waiting on his response.

"He liked Neapolitan. You know the one, right? All the different flavors mixed together, looks like a giant rainbow in the carton. You should have seen my face the first time I tried ice cream. Cody was going to be an astronaut one day. He told me he wanted to fly in space with me when he got better. It's funny that even with all the advanced technology I have at my disposal, I can't find a cure for cancer. Alex and I have looked. Mom and Dad looked too. No cure for cancer that Krypton knew about. I can catch a crashing plane, but I can't stop a human's body from destroying itself."

"I'm sorry, Kara. I know it is difficult but you of all people know we are not gods," he said softly in what he hoped was a comforting tone.

Kara shrugged her shoulders. "Of course we aren't. I know what we are. Did you see the article about the two of us in USA Today? Supergirl, the defender of the innocent and Batman, the punisher of the guilty. Shows what people know. They think you punish the guilty and I protect the innocent."

"You do protect the innocent," he said trying to stop her self recriminations from spiraling further downward.

Kara smiled sadly and took another drink.

"What are you drinking?" he asked carefully.

"Not enough." the girl mumbled. "Where is Dick? I came here for Dick. He isn't in his room and his things are gone. Has the Robin flown the nest now that he is the dark, scary Nightwing?"

Bruce leaned back, part of him telling him to call Alex and another part telling him to listen to her, keep her here. "He moved. I think he wanted it to be a surprise."

"He wanted to surprise himself? Or you? I'm confused." Kara asked, her brow crinkling.

"I think he wanted to surprise you." Bruce told her.

Kara laughed shakily. "Why would I give a damn about where he lives?"

Bruce was not sure what to say at that point. Dick never discussed his relationship with Kara, but it was obvious the two had grown close after Myriad. At least he thought it had been obvious. "Perhaps he wanted to impress you? You two are… involved?"

Kara shook her head and smiled. "I use him for sex. I drop by when I want, screw him and leave. That is all the involvement I want or need. He is supposed to understand this. Maybe I need to find a new Boy Wonder if he can't get the concept. I would ask you to fill the spot, but I understand you have a thing for burglars in black vinyl who carry whips. I'm not judging. We all have our kinks, right?"

Bruce shook his head and reached for his phone. It was definitely time to call Alex.

"I hate that bitch." Kara whispered.

Bruce stilled, not knowing if he should respond or not. He didn't think Kara was talking about Alex, but she was intoxicated. "Who would that be Kara?"

"My Aunt. I could have taken her in. I had her. It would have been simple to knock her out. The guys could have fired some Kryptonite RPGs in the sky and scared the rest away. We had cuffs to restrain her. I could have put her in a cell and we could have talked. I could have given her a chance or found out enough to stop Non and kept her locked up. But she screwed me. She touched, she hurt the people I love most. She could have followed me, talked to me. Instead she hurt them. She took the choice out of my hands. I had to kill her. I didn't have to like it so much though. I wish I had killed Henshaw. Connolly thought he was saving me? Saving me from what? I was always going to be a killer. I hate her. I hate her with everything I have in me. I wish I could kill her again. I should have dumped her ashes in a toilet."

Kara stood up on shaky legs. "I should get out of your hideout. You have work to do. I have more drinking to do. Maybe find a replacement Robin later. Unless you have a catsuit I can put on? I'll even use the whip." she offered, stepping towards him with a grin.

He raised his arms slowly so as not to appear threatening, halting her advance. "Kara...I'm going to call Alex and let her know you are okay, then Alfred and I can take you upstairs and put you in a bed for the night. I think you need sleep and you have probably drunk enough, okay?"

"Alfred?" Kara asked, sounding disappointed. "Not what I had in mind, Batman. Not interested in sleeping yet. I think I'm going to find out more about the alien nightlife of Gotham. Maybe I can find a nice Thanagarian who wants to screw the protector of the innocent. You take care of yourself, Dark Knight."

Kara quickly walked away, making it ten feet before she stumbled over her own feet and hit the floor, the bottle shattering beside her. Bruce rushed over and rolled her onto her back. She was uninjured, but unconscious.

The man picked her up and carried her to the elevator. Ten minutes later, he and Alfred had her in a bedroom. Alfred sat by her bed while Bruce stepped out to call Alex.

When Alex answered, she was clearly agitated. "Hi Bruce. Uh...I'm kind of busy. Kara isn't available for whatever you have going on. I need to go..."

"She is here Alex." he stated, knowing why she was in a hurry to get off the call.

Bruce could hear the sigh of relief on the other end of the phone.

"Is she okay? She left her phone, her suit, I had no way to track her. What is she doing there? Is she okay?" Alex frantically asked.

"I found her in the Batcave, very drunk. She passed out and I carried her to a bedroom. Alfred is going to sit by her tonight and keep watch," he told her.

"Thanks Bruce. I'll catch a flight and be there in six hours if I can find a non-stop flight." Alex's tone sounded defeated even though she was clearly relieved to know her little sister was safe.

"Stay where you are. She isn't waking up tonight. I'll have my jet take her to National City in the morning." Not knowing if he really wanted to hear her answer, but driven to ask anyway given the state Kara was in and her behavior, he said, "Alex, does this happen often?"

Alex said nothing for a moment and Bruce knew this wasn't the first time at least. "One of the sick kids she visited a lot, he died this morning. It was a sudden turn and she wasn't expecting it. Today is also the day… a year ago she killed Astra."

Bruce closed his eyes and cursed himself. He knew the first anniversary of Myriad was soon but had forgotten that Kara killed her aunt days before.

"Alex, how often does she drink?" he asked again.

"She isn't a drunk, Bruce!" Alex snapped, then her voice softened. "She just doesn't deal with things so well at times. It hardly ever happens. I'll keep a closer watch on her. Kara will be fine. Just keep her safe and call me when she wakes up, please."

"Get some sleep Alex," he told her, changing the subject.

"I will, Bruce... when I have her home."

Bruce shook his head, focusing on the present. He should have seen the signs that night, realized her therapy was useless, thought to bring Leslie in right then. He should have talked her into quitting, did anything he could to make her stop, to get her help. Instead, he let himself believe she would be okay. They all did until the problem became too big to ignore. If he had stopped it earlier, maybe the entire thing could have been avoided. Rehab, deaths, red rings, monsters, all of it avoided if he could have talked those girls out of becoming superheroes.

His bout of regret was interrupted when the elevator opened and Lucius Fox stepped out along with Alfred.

"Lucius?" Bruce was puzzled as to why his good friend would be here now.

Without preamble, Fox walked up to Brother Eye and opened up the database to the Wayne Industries solar energy lab. "The solar energy research center you had built in Iceland was analyzing results collected over the weekend and found something interesting. You need to see it."

"I didn't realize you had a new solar observatory center built Master Wayne." Alfred told him.

Bruce thought of explaining in detail the reasoning behind this, but did not have the time. If Lucius showed up personally the information was important. "Business Alfred. Our solar energy plants needed more research to develop more efficient technology for collection."

"Of course. Just business," Alfred told him, obviously not believing his answer.

Fox pointed to the screen showing a line of numbers that would appear random to an unqualified eye.

"Solar storm, but much different." Fox told him. "Happened three days ago. This is more like a giant solar flare than a storm. Storms are wide ranging, chaotic. This almost appears as if the Sun took a shot at Earth and succeeded."

Bruce raised an eyebrow. "Succeeded?"

Fox nodded his head. "A trail of intense solar energy from the sun to the Earth. We have no satellite data or visuals. It appears that every satellite it passed turned off for a few moments."

"Turned off?" Bruce asked intently. Satellites did not turn off. Nothing could perform a coordinated hack of multiple satellites owned by different companies and nations following the path of a projectile as it flew towards the Earth in such a limited time frame.

Nothing except Brother Eye and Kelex.

Reigning in his rising hope, he asked, "Can you trace the path of solar energy based on the satellites and their location when they were turned off?"

Lucius nodded. "Already have sir. Something came from the sun at an incredible speed and struck the Earth here."

A map of the Amazon Rainforest appeared. Bruce recognized the area. It was one he would never forget.

"Are you certain? Alfred, we need visual of that area." Looking over to his long time confidant, he took in Alfred's pale face and stunned look as he obviously understood the magnitude of Bruce's growing excitement. Moving over to another console, Alfred queried Brother Eye for the next satellite that would pass over the region while Bruce and Lucius continued their discussion.

"Solar rays shouldn't have a physical effect on an area. If it is uninhabited, no electronic devices would have been present that could be damaged." Fox told him. "You think it wasn't a solar flare? Alien weapon?"

Bruce thought of answering and decided against it. Fox was good at not pushing when it came to his work as Batman, often preferring not to hear the details.

"Anyone else know about this?" he asked instead.

Lucius shook his head. "No one. We are the only observatory that bothers looking at the sun's core for activity. The other solar energy companies gather intel from the surface of the sun. Is this something that needs to be looked at in further detail?"

Bruce shook his head quickly. "Tell the scientists it was a technical glitch and is being corrected. Destroy this data."

"Of course, Mr. Wayne," Fox agreed and left the Batcave.

Bruce and Alfred waited for five minutes for one of the satellites reserved for their own use to move into position. When the image of the possible impact zone appeared, neither man spoke. Instead they stared at a huge crater in the middle of nowhere, the exact spot Kara fought the first Worldkiller.

"That's the place isn't it?" Alfred whispered. "The center of the crater... it's the exact location."

Bruce didn't respond to the man, instead pulling his phone from his pocket.

"Bruce?" J'onn answered. "Have you heard from the Danvers? I'm not sure if I should visit or give them time. I'm getting very worried..."

"I'll be in Midvale in an hour. Meet me at Alex's house." Bruce told him.

"What's going on?" J'onn sounded really worried now.

"Not over the phone, J'onn. Not even our lines. Meet me there. Alfred will be with me."

 _ **Destin, Florida**_

Kara stood shocked, not having expected the woman clutching her tightly to break down. Alex had told her that Leslie had been her therapist since rehab and the two had made quite a bit of progress due to her rough and straightforward mannerisms. She hadn't known exactly what to expect, but an outpouring of emotion was not one she had even considered. Kara had guessed from what she heard that Dr. Leslie Thompkins was not an emotional woman.

Finally the doctor stood back and beckoned both girls inside. As soon as they entered, Leslie closed the door and stepped in front of Kara. The girl felt a bit uncomfortable as the doctor examined her visually up and down..

"The ring is gone." Leslie finally whispered. "I'm guessing the Worldkiller is gone. Where have you been girl?"

Kara shrugged her shoulders. "Core of the sun doing some extreme sunbathing, I guess. It took a while for me to… I guess you could say escape."

"Escape?" Leslie muttered to herself. "How… the scar next to your eyebrow… it's gone. How? You couldn't have survived, not even you. Are you sure you were in the sun?"

"Maybe we should sit down?" Alex suggested.

Leslie nodded and walked to her recliner, her eyes never leaving the two sisters. Alex and Kara sat on the couch and Kara grabbed her sister's hand gently. The blonde had not known what to expect, but had a general idea in her mind. She was thrown off now, not sure what to make of this woman.

"She did go into the sun." Alex started, relieving Kara. The girl did not want to explain this because she still wasn't sure exactly what happened in the core. Her memories were fuzzy already.

"The red ring and the Worldkiller were obviously destroyed." Alex told the doctor. "I'm not sure how much of her body was destroyed, but it was a lot. Her brain remained though. I know this because her memories remain. Physically she is fine except her cells are more charged than I have ever seen them. Even with a red sun bracelet on and being in the Fortress bathed in red sunlight, her powers are at more than full strength. I suspect the more exposure she has to red solar energy, her powers will fade to normal. Then we are putting a crystal, maybe multiple crystals in her body. Right Kara?"

Kara nodded her head. It was important to Alex. The blonde knew she never enjoyed these powers growing up, though she did enjoy saving people. Apparently, she had the crystal in before the red ring and had gotten rid of her powers voluntarily for a reason. Judging by the video she had seen of her announcement to the world that she had mental health and substance abuse issues, it was obvious that the powers and the Supergirl lifestyle had caught up with her. Getting rid of her powers seemed to be a good idea, but Kara didn't think it would happen anytime soon. Even with the bracelet on, she felt unstoppable.

And hungry.

"I'm sorry… is it okay if I call you Leslie?" Kara asked.

The woman nodded. "That is what you called me when we had a good session. Bad sessions usually involved a few less flattering names."

Kara was surprised by this. "Why would I call you names if you were helping me? I guess I will find out eventually. Anyway, do you have anything to eat? I am starving. I haven't eaten in a couple hours and have had serious cravings since I returned from… the sun I guess."

Leslie thought this was a great idea. Kara was obviously nervous. Even though the Kryptonian would hear them from a hundred miles away or more, perhaps being in the different room would allow her to speak to Alex more freely.

"Kitchen is that way." Leslie pointed to the door in the back of the living room. "Take whatever you need."

Kara moved so fast, neither of the remaining women saw her clearly.

"Don't leave the house." Alex said quietly, knowing Kara would hear her.

Leslie sat back and took the older sister in. Alex looked much more relaxed than the last time she saw the girl for obvious reasons, but she was also tense, like she was ready to strike. The therapist noticed the tremor in her hands she remembered from their last encounter was still there, if slightly lessened.

"I guess you want to tell me 'I told you so'?" the woman asked carefully.

To her surprise, Alex shook her head. "This isn't some personal tour of mine to take her to everyone who doubted me to show I was right. That doesn't matter right now. You are the only one who knows she is alive outside of the family. It needs to stay that way. Kara's memories… they are clear. She remembers every good thing that has happened in her life."

Leslie closed her eyes tightly and sighed. "And she has repressed all the bad?"

Alex nodded.

"And she wants her memories back because she feels she is half a person without them, right?" Leslie continued.

Again Alex nodded. "When she landed, she crashed hard enough to cause a crater with a hundred mile circumference. She wasn't sure where she was, how old she was. It even took her a while to remember English. It all came back to her quickly though. She hasn't broken any glasses or ripped off any doors. Her heat vision hasn't gone out of control. Basically, I'm saying her muscle memory remains in regard to her powers. She saw the press conference where she announced to the world she was retiring and why. She also read Lois Lane's damn book. She knows a lot happened and I have filled her in as best I could without going into graphic detail."

Leslie closed her eyes again, taking this in. This was a dilemma in her mind, a scenario she had never thought about. The woman had gone over and over in her head, second guessed everything she had done for Kara, convinced herself that she should have fought harder to keep Kara out of the fight instead of encouraging her and hoping that she didn't lose herself to the ring. Did she ever have a chance to stop the girl?

Of course if Kara hadn't gotten involved, this world would be in ruin.

Now the memories that haunted her were gone. Kara's face, even her eyes looked different. She seemed a bit awkward, nervous at meeting a new person, but she seemed...happy.

Fighting against her professional instincts and struggling with her desire to see Kara maintain the joy she currently saw in the young woman, Leslie replied, "Perhaps telling her about the past is enough. She had gotten over her physical addiction. Her mental addiction was a product of her life. I'm not sure if helping her remember would be a good thing. She could be traumatized all over again, a desire for alcohol..."

"They are coming back." Alex cut in. "She had a dream last night, a dream about the Joker. She didn't remember it very well, but she woke up in the same manner she used to when she had a nightmare. She described that monster down to the flaky white makeup on his face."

Leslie shook her head. Out of all the things she had talked to Kara about, that was the one conversation the blonde refused to speak of. It happened a month before her second suicide attempt. Batman had caught the Joker after a new killing spree that left seven dead. The bodies had all been recovered, except one... the body of a seven-year old boy. The Joker had agreed to tell the location of the body, but would only speak to Supergirl... alone.

The conversation only lasted ten minutes, but beside telling the police the location of the body, Kara never spoke of what was said in that room, not to Alex, Bruce or later Leslie.

"I need you to come to Midvale. She needs you." Alex told her in an almost pleading tone. "These memories are going to come back and if she doesn't have you to help her, she will..."

"Go insane?" Kara asked, walking into the room with a bag of chips in hand.

Leslie stood up and shook her head. "No. You weren't insane before. You were traumatized by your life, you relied on anger, pain, alcohol and drugs to deal with it, but you were never insane. You were a hero. Don't forget it. It took me a long time to convince you of that truth, so accept it now."

Kara thought for a moment, then nodded her head. She had read of her exploits, remembered her wins, but guessed from what she had pieced together that she had done many bad things as well.

"You will help me get my memories back?" Kara asked quietly. "I need them. Knowing isn't enough. Whatever I was, hero or villain… maybe both, I need to know, to remember. I'll never feel like myself if I don't."

Leslie took a deep breath. She had committed herself to Kara Danvers from the time the girl entered the Block. She also knew Alex would need her and come to her in her own time. Thompkins stepped to the window and looked out over the beach. "We do this my way. You follow my lead and if we need to go back to the Block we will. Understand?" she asked Kara without looking at her.

"Whatever it takes. I don't want to be who I was before. But if I can't remember who I was, how can I know how to change?" The sincerity in Kara's voice was evident.

Leslie turned to the blonde, glanced at a smiling Alex and nodded her head. "We have a lot to do. Finish off whatever is in my fridge while I pack. This could take a while. It won't be fast or easy, understand?"

Kara agreed. "I want this. I can handle it."

Leslie shrugged her shoulders. "You won't have a choice. We are going to do it right this time. We won't fail."

Two and a half hours later, the two girls and Leslie walked into the airport in Pensacola. At the counter, Alex asked for a third ticket for the doctor.

"Karen Star and Linda Lee?" the girl at the counter asked, looking at their boarding passes.

"That's us." Alex confirmed.

"I'm sorry, but your boarding passes have been canceled. You two and Doctor Thompkins have been removed and placed on a flight to Raleigh ready to leave at your convenience."

Alex tensed, ready to argue, possibly fight whoever pulled this bullshit. Her mother came to mind, but why would her mother want her on a different flight?

"Any reason why?" Alex asked, trying to keep her rising temper from her voice.

"I wasn't given a reason. You should be happy though. I was told to direct you to Gate 1. Bruce Wayne's private jet is prepared to take off as soon as you arrive. Lucky girls," the girl at the counter told them, winking.

Alex dropped her head, swearing softly in a mix of English and Kryptonese.

"Bruce sent his jet? Sweet!" Kara exclaimed excitedly then thought for a moment, turning to her sister and lowering her voice. "Wait, I thought you said he didn't know I was alive?"

"Apparently he figured it out." Alex mumbled.

Leslie shook her head, annoyed as well. The last thing she needed was Bruce possibly causing Kara to have horrifying flashbacks.

"Let's just get on the flight. I'll handle Bruce Wayne." Leslie walked quickly towards the private terminal, the girls following along, sharing an amused look between them at the plight poor Bruce was about to find himself at the hands of the irritated woman.


	8. Chapter 8

Do not own DC or CW characters

 **Chapter 8-The Anchor**

Kara sat next to Alex in the plush back leather chairs of the private jet, staring at Leslie who was in a similar chair facing the two. The blonde was becoming a bit uncomfortable with the intensity of Leslie's stare, one the doctor didn't try to hide.

"So," Kara started, hoping to break the tension a bit, "any idea how this is going to work? How we can get my memories back without me becoming a full blown psycho addict and rage monster again?"

She asked the question with a soft smile, hoping the playfulness of her voice would hide the tension she felt.

Leslie was not smiling. Alex reached over and gently took Kara's hand, but would not look at her.

"No idea." Leslie told her after a few moments. "Sounds like some of your memories are going to come back in your dreams regardless, so I have to figure out a better way to control the order. Unfortunately, regaining memories doesn't exactly work like that. They have a tendency to come out in their own manner, possibly triggered by something only your subconscious recognizes."

Kara knew this, but hoped the woman Alex placed so much faith in would have a better plan. Instead of asking more questions, the three woman lapsed into another silence.

Kara had thought of calling Bruce as they left Pensacola, but that idea was shot down by both her traveling companions as soon as they took off. Neither her sister or new/old therapist seemed happy with Bruce knowledge of her return from the sun. Kara didn't see what the big deal was. She remembered Bruce clearly. She knew she and Alex had hung out with him often in addition to them fighting crime together over the years.

Kara checked the time and saw they still had forty minutes to go before landing in Raleigh.

"Do you remember Lobo?" Alex asked suddenly.

"Of course." Kara told her, chuckling. "How could anyone forget Lobo? We are kind of tight. Wait, we didn't have a falling out, did we?" she asked worriedly.

Alex shook her head. "No, Lobo will always be absolutely devoted to you." the brunette assured her. "What do you remember about him?"

Kara laughed despite the seriousness of Alex's question. "Uh, a lot. Remember the time he dove his ship into the ocean not far from us when we had our birthday party on Bruce's yacht? The wave nearly capsized the boat. I didn't think Mom could scream that loudly. Bruce was so angry. Lobo is such a kid when it comes to dolphins. I remember when the two of us went out on the Gulf of Mexico...why are you looking at me like that?"

Alex glanced at Leslie, a concerned look on her face.

"You may as well test what she knows. If she freaks out and decompresses the plane, it's on you." Dr. Thompkins said.

"Do you remember how we met Lobo?" Alex asked carefully.

Kara actually snorted. "Hard to forget. He tried to take me to Astra and I kicked his ass. You shot him a few times too. That was when we met Cat Grant and Lois Lane, right? Then he helped us stop Myriad."

Alex was watching Kara very carefully. "But you don't remember the details of Myriad yet. What about Lobo's past? Before he met us? What do you remember about that?"

Kara concentrated on her eight-foot-tall friend who loved to bombard her with playful sexual innuendos and passes.

"I know he was sad and he hid his pain behind his sarcasm. He was...lonely. He killed off his people and never knew why, not really. He claimed it was because he was born evil, but I never bought that. I asked him once how someone evil could have fought with me for something so good when he really had no reason to. He never could answer. I'm not going to have to hide from Lobo, am I?"

It was Alex's turn to snort. "Hide? No. He hasn't been to Earth since you have been … gone. He checked in with me a few times at the Fortress, but you know how long range intergalactic communications are. Lobo has been busy hunting down the Diasporans who escaped after the invasion failed."

Catching Alex's attention, Leslie shook her head. "That's enough. When we land I want you two to go to your special Hangar and beam yourselves to the Fortress while I get a car and drive to Midvale. Stay there until I say you can come to your parents home. I'm going to take a wild guess and say the family situation is screwed beyond belief. I also need to clear out the flying rodent, Then we will talk about some ideas I have. Idiotic ideas that are reckless and basically one in a million shots, but considering you burned up, rebuilt your body and flew back from the sun, one in a million shots seem doable."

"Wait," Kara argued, "I remember Bruce. Seeing him won't trigger anything. He's my friend and I want to see him."

Leslie stared at Kara for a moment then looked to Alex who sighed. "It's probably better if you do what she says, Kara." Alex told her gently. "Please? I'm sure you will see him soon enough, but I asked her here because as much as I hate to admit it, she knows what's best for you in regards to your emotions and how you handle them. It's why I asked her to work with us."

Kara let it go, recognizing Alex was right. Her older sister would not have asked Leslie to come if Alex didn't believe she could help. Besides, she was fully powered, despite the red bracelet on her wrist, so she shouldn't be afraid of Leslie. But something about the good doctor put her on edge and admittedly frightened her a bit. Kara could not help but wonder what secrets she had told this woman. Had she told all her secrets? Perhaps things even Alex didn't know?

"Whatever you say, sister. I'm going to watch the news, catch up on what has happened since I went sunbathing." Kara took the remote from the middle console before Alex could blink and turned on the large screen to her right, one Kara remembered Bruce used to monitor Brother Eye remotely.

As usual, when not tuned in to Brother Eye, a 24 hour News Channel was on. The main story was a fierce battle in Chicago happening live.

"What the hell is going on?" Kara asked quietly. News choppers were hovering high above the ground, watching what looked like a firefight involving possible alien weapons on the ground.

Kara recognized the species though she had never seen them on Earth. They were the H'San Natall. "Alex, if they are on Earth..."

"The Titans are handling it." Alex cut her off. "Don't go there. They are only here now because … umm, they think you are dead."

Kara looked into the massive firefight going on trying to remember who or what the Titans were. She saw an orange skinned woman with flowing red hair flying, firing powerful bolts from her hands.

She also saw Dick Grayson on the street fighting a hoard of the aliens along with a yellow blur racing around him and a dark haired girl dressed in blue jeans and a black hoodie that covered her face.

"Is that Dick?" Kara asked, before pausing slightly and turning to Alex with a grin. "He still wears the suit I made him! That's so cool. Did I upgrade it at all?"

Alex nodded stiffly and cut the TV off.

"So... you remember Dick Grayson, huh?" the older sister asked carefully.

Kara rolled her eyes. "I've had sex once in my life, Alex. I doubt I would forget the man..."

Kara's response was cut off by a sharp laugh from Dr. Thompkins. The blonde glared at her and Leslie at least looked apologetic. "Sorry, but that was funny. You think you only had sex once?"

"Yeah... why?" Kara asked carefully.

Leslie shook her head. "You treated that boy like a chew toy. You wanted to play, so you played then threw him back in the toy box when you were finished."

"I think I would remember having sex again." Kara argued. "I admit it hurt a bit, but it was a good night. Why would I have blocked out my other experiences?"

"Because it was a form of self harm. You hated the way you felt after you used him and that, in a way, was what drew you back to him over and over again. And he let you do it, despite knowing you were using him. I understand he is dating the flying orange girl now. You must have given him a serious alien fetish." Leslie told her bluntly.

Kara glared at her with disbelief. Sex was special and she would have never dreamed of doing it if not for her worries about the approaching Myriad battle. Why would she use sex to hurt herself, or use another person for that matter? She couldn't have been that cold, could she?

Glancing at Alex who was gazing out the window, it became clear to Kara. She had been that cold. She stiffened with the realization that maybe she didn't want to know about her past with Dick Grayson.

Sensing her sister's unease, Alex turned back towards Kara before glancing back to the doctor. "We won't ask anymore questions about your past, Kara. Leslie will come up with a plan and if she doesn't have one, I think I do... if Dr. Thompkins is amenable, that is."

Leslie closed her eyes, feeling a bit of fear herself. She suspected she knew exactly what plan Alex was alluding to, had even considered the idea herself over the past year. She'd questioned if she should have followed through with the idea and even if she could have done it. Frankly, the thought scared the hell out of her.

The truth was this approach could be the only chance for Kara to bring back her memories in an orderly fashion, come to terms with her previous life and point out the catalysts and triggers, the good and the bad along with the reasons, decisions and events that led her to the Block and eventually, the Red Ring.

The approach could be the only way to help Kara see her life. It would enable her to step out of the present, observe and understand… but more importantly, it would allow her the perspective she needed to forgive herself and finally let go of the past.

Sighing, Leslie opened her eyes, conceding Alex's point. "Alright. First let me find out if I'm crazy enough to go through your laser door. I'll go to the Hanger and enter the Ice Castle. Then I will go to your parents and deal with things there before calling the two of you."

Kara noticed Leslie shudder and the look of confidence on her face that seemed to be constantly present was gone.

"You've never been to the Fortress? How weird." Kara told her. "I would've thought in our sessions we would go to the one piece of Krypton that remains. I never asked you to visit?"

Leslie looked a bit guilty.

"You did." she answered quietly. "I just had no desire to beam myself there and a long flight followed by a hike over an icy wasteland held little appeal. I'm going to try though. Screw it, I've lived long enough so if my molecules get spread out… although I may need one of you to push me though."

Kara grinned, hoping to put the woman at ease. "It doesn't blast your molecules. It simply opens up a space time rip. It's like taking a short cut through the space time continuum. I hope you knew me well enough to know I would never let my family be in danger. If I thought it was unsafe, I never would have let them use it. This isn't Star Trek. Rann Transporters aren't really even teleportation devices. They are devices that create doorways… basically extremely small and stable worm holes."

Leslie shuddered once again. "I realize that. You have both explained it to me, Kara. You are afraid of snakes and I am afraid of alien tech. It's called a phobia. Humans stepping through a door of light and exiting into a large Fortress on the bottom of the Earth is not natural, but I will do it. It needs to be done. Just… I'll close my eyes and you can… or Alex can… I'm honestly not sure which of you would get more joy out of it. I'd like to spend the next hour not thinking about it, so I am going to relax and you two are going to stay quiet."

A short time later they landed.

"Kara put on your sunglasses." Alex ordered, taking the lenses from her bag.

Kara did as told. Listening to Alex was something she had become accustomed to long ago. She trusted Alex with her safety. If Alex told her to do something, there was a reason for it. Kara had always listened to Alex.

Right?

Of course considering what little she had already found out about her life, it was very obvious Kara had not listened to Alex or her parents about a lot of things.

A short drive later and the three women entered the Hangar once owned by their DEO friends and now the property of Bruce Wayne.

Kara flinched when she took in the large space. It was empty now... but she could not remember Alex or her ever being here.

Still she knew instinctively. This was the place they began turning themselves into weapons.

The blonde felt a sense of unease Alex must have noticed since her older sister grabbed her hand tightly.

"You are remembering something?" Alex asked carefully.

Kara shook her head. "No... I just don't like this place."

"Yeah..." Alex agreed, a sad tone in her voice. "We had good times here, but it was always clouded in this building. There was always the… it doesn't matter. Let's get to the Fortress. Promise me you will do what Leslie says. Please?"

Kara fought back her irritated feelings. "I think it's dumb that I can see Bruce."

"Promise me, please?" Alex asked again, her tone pleading but her eyes intent. Kara rolled her eyes, but agreed.

The three women moved to a door protected by a palm reader which opened immediately at Alex's touch. Leslie followed Alex and Kara down a set of stairs into another room also protected by a palm reader which Alex activated. That door opened and Leslie found herself in a nondescript room with yet another palm reader plus a retinal scanner on a blank wall.

Alex walked towards it, touching the palm reader and holding still as a blue light scanned her eyes. The brunette then put her communication device in her ear.

"Kelex, Kara and I, along with Dr. Thompkins, are entering the Fortress. Make sure the defensive measures are down."

"It is done." the AI answered immediately.

"Defensive measures?" Leslie asked hesitantly.

"It's the most secure base on the Earth and has more advanced tech than a lot of planets. It stands to reason it has defensive measures. Anyone in the Fortress without clearance would be dead in seconds." Alex told her.

Where the wall had been, a bright light appeared in the perfect form of a door. Leslie stood in front of it shaking a bit.

"I'm a superhero's therapist." the woman whispered. "I got this. I got this. I got this. I..."

Her self-affirmation was cut off when she felt a hand on her back pushing her quickly through the bright light. The woman turned and saw Kara Danvers with a devious smile on her face.

"I had to encourage Mom the first time also. She got used to it quickly enough. I'm sure you will too. Have a look around." Kara told her. "I promise nothing will happen to you. No alien ray guns will pop up and turn you to ash."

Leslie urge to yell at the blonde was quickly overpowered by the sight around her.

The Fortress was beautiful. So beautiful, it took her breath away. The doctor had heard descriptions of the Fortress from both Alex and Kara, but she always pictured it in her mind as more of a military structure similar to the Batcave. But she was so wrong.

This place was a work of art. A giant crystal palace, light bouncing off the crystal walls and floor. In the middle was a two story tall cylindrical object at least twenty feet in diameter with rows of keyboards around it.

"Justin, I presume?" Leslie asked, referring to the Danvers' supercomputer that was powerful enough to map the world using every single electronic device owned by men, and capable of shutting down or hacking every satellite around the planet. The thing even took control of the world's nuclear capabilities during the invasion to prevent countries from attacking each other during the chaos.

The girls built this magnificent structure's form and foundation their freshman year in college before unleashing Kelex to erect this incredible replica of Krypton inside its protective dome. It staggered her to think that at age 18, Kara Danvers, a traumatized, self-harming and possibly suicidal teenage girl had god-like control over Earth.

Leslie had always been impressed by Bruce's technology, but it was easy to see where the ideas for his improvements came from and some of the tech. Yet, it still paled in comparison to what was revealed before her.

Alex pressed a key on Justin and the light took on a reddish tint. Alex was irradiating the building in red sunlight and yet it did nothing to diminish the beauty of the place. Silently, Leslie walked slowly around the Fortress, the temperature comfortable despite being in Antarctica.

The girls stood back quietly and let her take it in. Leslie never imagined how huge the place could be. She also knew there were several hidden panels that opened other rooms: bedrooms, bathrooms, even a kitchen which she had no doubt contained some sort of crystal appliances.

As she moved along, she saw Alex's rebuilt jet, nearly identical to Bruce's fighter. She saw workbenches with alien tech and monitors where the Danvers likely onducted research, designed weapons, and mastered alien technology.

Continuing her perusal, Leslie found the row she had always wondered about. The space could be considered an armory, because on the wall were mounted at least twenty weapons, all Alex's no doubt. Some were alien in nature, but some were very human. Guns of all calibers, rifles, blades, even what she suspected were small bombs. The row of glass cases in front of the wall were what caught her eye though.

The costumes. The outfits a couple 18-year-old girls wore into battle for years.

The first case was empty, only an undressed mannequin on display.

"My main costume." Kara told her quietly, coming up slowly behind her. "I guess it turned into whatever I wore with the ring. Considering I crashed back to Earth naked, I assume it didn't survive the sun."

Leslie nodded thoughtfully and continued walking to each, taking them in. Most of these costumes she, nor the world, had ever seen Kara wear. Thompkins was certain she would have remembered a flying blonde wearing a white tee and a denim miniskirt or Kara fighting villains in a one-piece bathing suit.

She stopped in front of the armor Kara wore when she fought Doomsday. Despite being Kryptonian material, the soft fabric pieces were torn, the armored symbol of the House of El in the middle was cracked in half and it was filthy, Kara's dried blood or the blood of the Ysmault lake she emerged from still covered it.

"She wouldn't throw it away." Alex whispered. "She wanted to keep it that way."

Leslie wasn't surprised. It was in Kara's nature to hang on to bad memories, something she hoped to change.

Interspersed with Kara's garments were Alex's. While Kara wore brighter colors to face the public, Alex held no need to be seen as a superhero and it was reflected in her dress. They were not similar at all, but Alex's suits reminded Leslie of Bruce's. They were armor, weapons to be used in war. The first outfit, the copper and silver armor Alex mainly wore, was next to the glass case that had held Kara's original suit. The others, the black armor, the one that seemed to glitter and rendered her nearly invisible when she wished, the advanced tactical gear only Connolly's team wore when Alex was in the DEO… all were present.

Leslie then reached the end and found a suit that neither girl had worn... a suit built for someone much larger than Kara.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Kara whispered. "We came with two blankets. That is one of them, the only one left now, I suppose. That suit belongs to Superman. Clark will be the greatest hero who ever lived. People will look to him for the best... for hope. Some will fear him, but the majority will love him, be inspired by him. His heart is so much stronger than mine."

Leslie shook her head slightly. "You have a pretty good heart yourself, kid. Don't knock it."

Thompkins stepped back and let out a breath, taking it all in. She should have been here sooner.

The Fortress was a perfect reflection of Alex and Kara Danvers. Cold... but warm. Beautiful... but deadly. Comforting... but intimidating.

Looking back at the girls so they couldn't mistake her next instructions, she said, "Get rid of your suits. All of them... except for Clark's. If you want souvenirs, look at vacation photos. This life, it's over for both of you. Destroy them as soon as you show me the way out."

Kara giggled, then disappeared in a blur. Leslie did not see or feel much, just the wind, a bright light and her feet on a concrete floor, one she suspected belonged to the Danvers' basement. As she climbed the stairs, her suspicions were confirmed when she reached the top and heard the voices of Bruce Wayne and Jeremiah Danvers on the other side of the closed door.

Back in the Fortress, Alex actually laughed when Kara zipped back over to her without Leslie.

"She is going to get sick of that fast." the older sister pointed out.

Kara simply smiled and shrugged her shoulders. "She was nervous, so I helped her out. I'm glad she is gone. I wanted to spend some alone time with you."

Alex raised an eyebrow, curious and slightly concerned as to what Kara's worry could be. "I haven't left your side since you returned. Is something wrong? Are you powers finally dimming? Are you hurting?"

Kara beckoned Alex to follow, leading her to the lounge area where they sat close together.

"Since I crashed and you found me, I've been eating or sleeping, or talking with Clark or Mom and Dad. I also read about my past, at least some of it, we talked about it, flew to Leslie, and… it's just everything has kind of run together. I wanted us to have some alone time. Just me and you."

Alex let out a breath, relaxing a bit. Kara did have a good point. They needed time to decompress, even if it was a short while. She smiled warmly at Kara. "That would be great. Seriously how are you feeling?"

"How are you?" Kara countered, surprising Alex.

The older sister froze, not sure what to say. How was she? Ecstatic, relieved, joyful and... afraid. Very much afraid. Afraid that this was a dream that she could wake up from, find it wasn't real. When the Black Mercy attached itself to Kara, she had lived a perfect dream life and then woke up to find it was gone. Was it Alex's turn?

"I'm sorry I left you." Kara told her softly, taking her sister's hand.

"You didn't leave me. I mean, you didn't want to. That wasn't your fault." Alex insisted, trying to alleviate Kara's sorrow.

"Yes, it was. I may not remember, but from what you have told me, a lot of things were my fault. I shouldn't have gone along with a plan that could and nearly did get you killed. I shouldn't have fought Reign without a better plan. I should have been smarter, seen the real reason for the invasion." Kara's eyes glimmered with unshed tears as she tried to reason with her sister.

Alex shook her head. She wasn't going to let Kara blame herself any longer. "Don't. It wasn't on you. We both went along with it, we both knew the risks. We couldn't have known..."

Alex raised her free hand to gently wipe the tears that had begun to slide down Kara's face. "Sweetie... you couldn't have known. Our mistake was in splitting up. Nothing good ever comes from us splitting up. We should have stayed near each other."

Gazing deep into Kara's eyes, so there was no possibility of a misunderstanding, Alex affirmed her belief in their connection, "Without exception… we have been and always will be... _stronger together_."

Kara moved closer to Alex and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, bringing her in closer so Alex could lay her head on her little sister's shoulder. "Okay. I'll concede that it wasn't our fault. I'm back now. I want my memories back, but I also want my family back. Is that possible?"

Alex looked up at her, not sure quite what her sister meant by that question. "You will never be without your family. Never again." she assured Kara.

Kara sighed. "It doesn't feel that way. I feel like I have you all back individually, but not my family. I know me being dead..."

"You were not dead!" Alex exclaimed.

Kara cleared her throat and forced a smile on her face. "Sorry. I know me being gone changed things. I know things are tense between you and our parents. I see disturbing changes in Clark."

Pausing a moment to make sure she had Alex's full attention, she continued carefully. "I know if I was traumatized by the things I did as Supergirl, the things I saw, the things I did, so were you. You were always with me, not just the good times I remember. Your hands haven't stopped trembling since I woke up. You were taking meds too, weren't you? Going to therapy? Yet you stopped after I… umm, did what I did."

"I had to stay sharp." Alex told her. "Lillian Luthor and General Lane were still out there. There were still Cadmus cells, still threats to Clark. I had to take care of them, keep him safe while you were away. I couldn't afford to take medication and had no time for therapy. All anyone told me was that you were dead, and I needed to accept it and move on. Even Mom and Dad told me to move on. They should have been helping me, watching the sun, figuring out a way to get you back sooner, or at least known you were alive. Instead, they abandoned me."

Alex's tone was getting increasingly bitter as she talked. "So, yeah, I quit going to therapy. I never abandoned Clark though. I never will, just like I will never abandon you."

Kara had already guessed what Alex confirmed. There was a big divide between her parents and sister. "I'm going to do everything I can to get my memories back and not be who I used to be. To do that, I need my family. I need the family that loved each other, that kept each other safe, the family with the unbreakable bond. To do that, you are going to have to forgive them. I think you know deep down that they did what they did because Clark needed to move on. No one but you would have really expected me to come back. I still don't know how I did it."

Alex smiled, but her eyes betrayed her confusion. Her voice heavy with emotion, she replied, "You came back because I needed you. You always come when I need you. Even when you were at your lowest, your darkest, when I needed you, you were there... and I needed you, Kara. I needed you so much that as soon as you were able, you came back to me. That is an unbreakable bond. Mom and Dad should have felt it as well."

Kara squeezed Alex a bit tighter, wishing she didn't have her powers so she could hold her as tightly as possible. "Maybe they did. It doesn't matter right now. We need to heal Alex. I don't like seeing you like this. You are scared and angry and I realize that is probably ironic coming from me, but you need to heal so we all can. I want my family back and you have always been the glue that held us together. You have to do that again."

Alex could see Kara's point. In her head she could agree with it.

But how to get past the anger? Kara had dealt with anger poorly her whole life. Alex was always the one who brought her back from the brink, who kept her from losing herself and unleashing her anger on the world around her. Alex was always her anchor.

How could she take on that role in her family again if she let her own anger eat away at her? How could she make peace with her parents and forgive them when they didn't think they'd done anything wrong?

"I get what you are saying Kara." Alex told her.

Kara waited for a few moments. "But?" she finally asked.

Alex grinned, wanting to drop the subject, but reassure Kara at the same time. "No buts this time. I will work on it. We will work on it. All of us, I promise. For right now though, let's get you..."

"Alex, I need you." Kara interrupted her. "If you aren't strong, I'm not. I have a feeling I am going to need to be strong. I get that things won't be okay in a day, but we need to start working towards it now, right? All of us?"

Alex shut her eyes tightly. "So you are saying no disintegrating Mom every time she butts in where her opinion isn't needed or wanted? No hitting Dad when he tries to tell me it will be okay and things will get better?"

Kara nodded her head. "That would probably be a good place to start. This is going to be hard, not just for me. It's going to be hard on all of us, I understand that. You have all lived through it once. Lived through seeing me… self-destruct. I know you are afraid of it happening again. I'm afraid too, Alex... and when I'm afraid, I look to you. I need you to hold us together. Please, Alex."

The older sister kissed Kara on the cheek. "If things get to bad, we go to the Block, promise? No matter how long it takes?"

"I swear to you. I'll never break a promise to you again. If you say go, we go back to my personal mental ward." Kara assured her.

"Okay then." Alex agreed, before shifting topics. "I wonder how long Leslie is going to take? I know you have to be hungry. Clark is going to want to see you. They all will. Then we get started."

"You have a plan." Kara told her, not asking. "What is it?"

Alex patted her on the leg. "I will explain it all once we can sit down with Leslie, but not now. I think the two of us have something we need to do while you still have your powers."

Twenty minutes later, the two stood under the black Antarctic night in front of a pile of costumes. Every costume the two had worn in battle that remained was on the ground.

"It's over." Alex told her. "You have more than enough power for this. Light them up."

Kara and Alex backed away, Alex staying behind Kara when she focused her intense heat vision on the pile of costumes and watched as the normally indestructible Kryptonian fabrics burned to nothing.


	9. Chapter 9

Do not own DC or CW characters

Chapter 9 -

"You didn't seriously think I would let you see her, did you?" Leslie asked as her way of greeting the occupants of the Danvers living room as she strode in, glaring at the intruders.

She took in the room, Bruce and Alfred sitting next to a black, silver-haired Navy Admiral she supposed was the Martian. She guessed this was the form he used when he first met Kara. She had seen Bruce casually dressed before, but to see Alfred dressed in his spring casual threw her for a bit of a loop. The man just somehow seemed too dignified to have on the white Polo shirt and khaki slacks he currently donned. Bruce was dressed in the same manner, only his shirt a light blue. Across from them in the love seat, Jeremiah and Eliza sat side-by-side, while a very tall Kelex stood behind them with his arms crossed. Leslie swore if he had a mouth, it would be frowning. At least the robot had some sense.

"As soon as we were told Alex was on her way to you with Kara, I knew there was little to no chance you would let us see her, Leslie." Bruce assured her.

Noting his placating tone, the frown on Leslie's face began to match the imagined one on Kelex. "If you knew, why are you here?"

"Because I was hoping… well, we were hoping to see Kara, but considering our arrival sent Eliza and Jeremiah into a full-blown panic, I felt it wasn't in the girls' best interest to surprise them too, so I sent the jet as a way to let you know we were here." Bruce explained, before continuing. "I'm guessing you sent the girls to the Fortress, so the only thing that is a complete shock to me is you actually using the transporter."

"Kara threw me in." she told them shortly. "Since you are dancing around, not answering my question, let me rephrase it… If you knew, why are you _still_ here?"

Bruce shrugged his shoulders and bent forward, elbows on knees. "Just talking to Jeremiah and Eliza. Since the Mansion has been cut off from the Fortress by my metal friend, we thought we would make a house visit. I needed answers and this was the only place I could get them."

Leslie rolled her eyes, long used to the man she considered the spoiled brat Alfred had raised. "And you always get your answers, right? You need to leave. I'm sure the parents would like to be reunited with their daughters. Before you even think about arguing with me, know this… she dreamed about him, Bruce. The first nightmare she had since she came back from her extreme sunbathing session and it was about the one monster she was never allowed to kill… because of you. Now tell me, what was it she did when she found out from Gordon that the Joker was the one who bombed that Children's Hospital and you refused to kill him? Do you need me to remind you?"

Bruce let out a defeated breath. "She threw the Batmobile across the cave…at me. Kara said she knew I would get out of the way. I like to think that's true. We just came to talk to Jeremiah and Eliza, to find out about her state."

"Do you mean her mental state?" Leslie asked. "Or are you concerned the Worldkiller is still inside her, or if she had a red ring on?"

"Everything." J'onn answered. "We thought she was dead for a year. Do you blame us for wanting to know if she is okay? Is she? Did she seem fine to you?"

Leslie shook her head disgruntled. "She can't remember three quarters of her life and barely any of the time she spent on Krypton. Despite that, she is…I've never seen her like this. She is …happy. And in true Kara Danvers fashion, she wants to make sure it goes away by getting her memories back. But that's between me and her."

Leslie looked back at Bruce, knowing he was behind what she was most interested in learning. "What I want to know is how you found out she was alive? I know they didn't tell you." She nodded towards the parents.

"I opened a solar observatory last year to study the core of the sun." Bruce explained. "It is the only of its kind dedicated solely to the core. Because of that, the scientists picked up strange readings over the weekend and Lucius showed them to me this morning. I tracked them, recognized Kelex's work and saw the crater. That data has been wiped, the scientists think it is a technical glitch and Lucius has no idea, or at least didn't ask any questions."

Leslie's face turned grim. Alex had neglected to mention a crater. True, Bruce had skills and equipment the government didn't have, but it took him less than an hour to discover the impact site of the blonde meteor. Other agencies would not be far behind. "Why did you have an observatory built? I thought we were all in agreement. We thought she was dead."

Bruce looked at Jeremiah and Eliza. "I did believe she was dead. I was certain of it. I built the observatory…but I guess if there is one thing Alex and Kara have taught me, is there is no harm in hoping. So yes, I did think she was dead, but I hoped. We all hoped, even if none of us believed it. Maybe I should learn to listen more often to Alex."

Leslie saw a flash of guilt in the parent's eyes. The doctor had kept up with the family since Kara's death through Bruce. She knew the blonde dying and Alex believing she was still alive had caused a huge rift between Alex and her parents, not to mention the hunting trips Alex had refused to let Bruce help her with. Alex had singlehandedly wiped out a large anti-alien terrorist group in the past eight months and Leslie did not want to think of the body count the girl left behind.

Kara returning was not going to magically fix this family. Kara would be dealing with a life time of emotional and physical trauma returning to her in a fashion Leslie could only hope to control. Her alcohol and drug addictions were another issue they were going to have to address.

Jeremiah and Eliza now felt guilty for not believing Alex and wondering what Kara will think knowing they had done nothing to get her back. Clark was probably a mess, as he was caught between Alex and their parents.

And then there was Alex. She had gone to a very dark place and not just because of the systematic slaughter of those she considered a threat to her little brother. Without Kara in her life, Alex's own darkness erupted. Alex learned to do something she never had before, something Kara was an expert at. Alex learned to truly hate with everything she had inside her.

In the brief amount of time before their sessions ended abruptly with Alex's refusal to talk about Kara's death, the two talked about other things, or more to the point, other people.

Leslie was not surprised to hear Alex talk about Luthor and Lane, nor was she surprised by her determination to end their beloved organization. She was surprised by the others Alex talked about.

Her feelings for Diana Prince, for example. While she had never mentioned Prince before, nor really seemed to have an opinion one way or the other about the woman, that changed. Alex had watched Kara's final battle with Worldkiller 1 several times, looking for clues to help find her sister. In her observations, she noted that the Amazon was prepared to kill her sister while Kara fought an internal battle with the Symbiont inside her. Leslie knew Bruce and Diana disbanded the League because of this as he and J'onn would never trust her nor would Diana trust them to do what she felt needed to be done.

Alex saw her as a devil, calling her worthless, standing in the shadows doing nothing for years, while Supergirl fought the battles against the strongest enemies that threatened the world. She felt Diana let her little sister down, that the Amazon could have stopped the blonde's path to madness if Kara had an older and wiser woman who understood what it was like to have powers. But worse than that in Alex's eyes, Diana was ready to give up on Kara before her little sister had been given a chance to defeat the Worldkiller on her own.

Alex hated Barry Allen. Despite Leslie's belief that he made the right call in not going back to change the timeline, what truly angered Alex was he did go back in time, only to see Kara once more and say goodbye, something she didn't feel he had a right to do. Kara had broken up with him months before and yet he felt he had the right to see her one last time when her family could not.

Alex hated the Green Lanterns. She told Leslie that several times she had tracked down the remaining Lanterns on Earth, and though all four no longer had rings, she considered killing them. She even mentioned to Leslie casually that she had spoken to Lobo, asking him to find out if killing the Guardians was feasible.

For nearly fourteen years, Alex held off her own demons by helping Kara fight hers. With Kara gone, Alex's demons came out in force.

Leslie suspected it would be up to Kara to bring Alex out of the darkness and had no idea if Kara would ever be able to do that. The parents would have to be strong for all three children and Thompkins wondered if they could be. They certainly did not look strong now.

"I'm going to the Fortress." Eliza said suddenly as she stood and made her way to the basement door. "Jeremiah, Clark should be home from school soon. Bring him there when he arrives. We are going to stay under red sunlight as long as it takes for her powers to dim."

The five were not alone long in the silence that followed her departure as, true to Eliza's word, Clark arrived home an hour early, having skipped practice. He looked at the three men, hugged Alfred and waved slightly to the other two before hurrying to the basement. Jeremiah was swift on his son's heels, giving a quick goodbye to the men and passing a look to Leslie nearly begging her to hurry up and come back to the Fortress. With the last of his family members retreating to the Fortress, Kelex followed, but not before giving Leslie a slight nod of acknowledgment.

In the silence following the Danvers departure, Leslie took a deep breath and leaned back in the recliner. "Who else knows?"

"No one." Bruce told her quickly, Alfred nodding in agreement.

Leslie sighed and prepared to go to battle with Bruce Wayne. "No one else can ever know. No one."

"Of course, she needs time, the whole family does." Bruce agreed quickly, obviously not grasping what Leslie meant.

"No one. Ever. Do you understand me? If you three hadn't found out, I would have strongly suggested that the Danvers never tell you either." Leslie stated emphatically and waited for the blow up she suspected was coming. She was not disappointed.

Bruce yelled, she wasn't sure about what, because she zoned him out. He began pacing, so she crossed her hands behind her head and closed her eyes, realizing how tiring, emotionally and physically, this day had been. What she would have to do to truly help Kara scared the hell out of her and Leslie was not afraid of much. But if Kara had any chance of staying sane and sober after the onslaught of memories coming her way, she saw no other option.

She had nearly dozed off in the comfortable recliner when she realized there was silence in the room.

Thompkins opened her eyes slightly and saw an irate, but quiet Bruce Wayne, sitting back on the couch, Alfred's arm around him.

"You done?" the Doctor asked.

Bruce barely held in a growl. The damn woman was good at what she did and infuriating. He had just said words he wouldn't dare say in front of Clark and Leslie had nearly fallen asleep.

"I've sat through Kara Danvers temper tantrums. Alex Danvers threatened to kill me once and I've dealt with the worst psychos in Arkham Asylum. You don't frighten me, and you don't want to screw with me, Batman. No. One. Knows. … _Ever_."

"Do you have any idea what hell some people have gone through since she died, or went into the sun? She came as close to death as any being could get and it is a miracle that she is here. That miracle can help a lot of people and Kara would want that." Bruce told her, fighting to keep his voice calm and reasonable and doing a poor job.

"What people?" she asked, already knowing the answer.

"Dante Youngblood for one. He walked into the jungle after she disappeared and has never been back. He walked away from civilization because he felt he let her down."

"He's a big boy. He made his own damn decision. If he wanted to disappear because he felt some misguided guilt, that's on him. I noticed you never went to look for him, did you Bruce? He worked for you, watching Metropolis like you paid him to do and then he slipped off to Central City, found love and somehow missed the giant alien monster Luthor was keeping in a downtown underground lab. Why are you concerned about him now? You haven't been for the past year. Maybe there is a little anger there you aren't admitting to yourself? Regardless, as far as he and everyone else is concerned she is dead, and it will stay that way."

"Barry Allen stopped being the Flash…" Bruce began before Leslie interrupted him.

"Again, that was his choice. He made the decision to walk away from that life. He and Kara weren't together anymore, but he could have honored her memory by fighting on or something, changed his suit blue, whatever. Instead he walked away because he chose to. He isn't Kara's problem and Kara isn't his, no matter how much he might have wanted her to be. In fact, she only remembered him as the first guy she kissed, not as the Flash. That tell you something?"

She held up her hand preempting any further arguments from Bruce. "Wait, don't tell me whose next. How about Dick Grayson? Jason Connolly, Jack Webb, your former Justice League? Diana Prince maybe? Let's bring the Green Lanterns along for the ride. What about her old bestie, the head of the League of Assassins, Nyssa Al Ghul right? Maybe we can get Lois Lane and Cat Grant here as well and have a big welcome back from the sun party.

"As far as everyone is concerned Supergirl is dead. It stays that way. How they deal with it is the same way people deal with grief every day. My concern is for this family. I don't give a damn about the rest of the world and considering you are here, this family is more important to you three than other people feeling better about themselves, am I right?"

J'onn, still in the freaky form of the Naval officer shook his head.

"It won't work. Supergirl may be dead, but Kara Danvers just returned from her year abroad. Kara Danvers is still alive to the world and when someone starts looking they will find her."

Leslie shrugged her shoulders, having given some thought to this.

"Who is going to be looking? Who pays attention to Midvale or the Danvers besides you three? Is anyone actively running searches on her, looking for bank transactions or facial recognition? If they are, I have no doubt the big robot is all over it. She will go back to her life as Kara Danvers and that is all she will be. It's all she ever wanted. She is going to have to deal with her past, but she will move on from it.

"She will probably be an addict all her life, emotionally if not physically, and she will have to deal with that as well. We were getting there before the Red Ring business and we will get there again. Those girls' lives are going to be as normal as possible. I think, given everything they've sacrificed for this world, they deserve that, don't you?"

Leslie took their silence and reluctance to meet her eyes as agreement.

"How are you going to do it?" Alfred asked quietly. "Hypnosis, or wait for her memories to filter back through her dreams? That could take years."

Leslie snorted. "Yeah, years and disjointed fragments. No, we are going to have to do this right. I am going to have to be with her as her memories return. I mean that literally."

The three looked at each other and J'onn realized how she planned to do this.

"Alex asked you to?" he asked quietly.

"She will. I know it's on her mind. If anyone can make it happen, she can. She manipulated Kara's brainwaves while she had the red ring. Kelex knows how also. He was the first to do it, right J'onn?"

The Martian shook his head sadly. "Do you have any idea how dangerous this could be for you? Alex went into her head while she was under an illusion. What you will be seeing will be real. If you link your minds, you can be caught up in hers. Every emotion, every fear she has ever had, it could drive you insane."

Leslie sat up in the recliner and met the Martian's eyes. "You think I don't know that? I have to help her control it. I have to be there while she literally watches her life unfold. I have to convince her that a lot of it wasn't her fault. She has to have mercy on the little girl she was, the one who couldn't save that woman and her baby, the one who couldn't stop Henshaw from finding them, the one who believes she brought Fort Rozz to Earth and unleashed her Aunt and Uncle onto this planet. She has to forgive herself for the things that were never her fault before she can move forward. And I have to be there with her to walk her through, to help her see and make sure that she understands. Is it dangerous? Hell yes, it is. Am I scared? Of course, I am. But you three aren't the only heroes in this world. I'm going to do whatever it takes to make sure we get it right this time and she can find peace with herself."

J'onn looked at her for a moment and nodded his head.

Seeing their reluctant agreement, she added, "That said, if I do go bat shit crazy, no offense Bruce, I would appreciate if someone could just put me out of my misery, bury me and then find her a new therapist."

Bruce laughed a bit and shook his head. "You have no idea what you are getting into, do you? She has more darkness than I do, than J'onn does."

"I know exactly what I am getting into. I know her life, I know I will see everything she saw when she was under the Blood Lake, I know I will see the histories of the Red Lanterns, their rage that is still locked away somewhere inside her, I know I will see her in her perfect world and being ripped away from it. I'm going to feel what she felt when she snapped her Aunt's neck. It scares the hell out of me, but I am going to do it. Now, if you gentleman would let yourselves out, I have patients I need to get to."

As she made her way to the basement, Leslie stopped suddenly and turned back to the men as they stood. "Bruce, there is one thing that you can do for this family. It involves a cover-up, something you three should be good at by now. You might even enjoy it."

Bruce nodded, an earnest look on his face. "You know I'll do whatever I can… or at least whatever you will allow me to do."

Pleased with his response, Leslie said, "Then drop a big space rock in that hole Kara left in the Amazon. I don't want to run the risk of anyone else discovering what you did."

"Consider it done." Bruce replied as the three made their way out the door, leaving Leslie shaking her head as she made her way back to the Fortress.

 **Metropolis**

As a man who lived on the streets, shelters and abandoned buildings for the better part of ten years, Gary thought he'd seen it all. He was proven wrong.

Finding an old industrial storage shed with no one inside had been a bit of luck, a place he could sleep without fear of being attacked by others like him, where he could stay out of the spring rain for a night, perhaps even enjoy quiet as he slept instead of the sometimes insane ramblings of others.

His bit of luck had been destroyed before nightfall.

In the middle of the abandoned shed, a bright ball of light appeared, scaring the hell out of him. The light was swirling, changing colors and eventually settling on a bright blue storm of energy.

Once the storm died, a large metal sphere sat on the floor, legs coming out of the bottom and stabilizing it.

Then the door opened, and three men walked out. One of the men had short, neatly combed blonde hair, another a mane of unruly dark hair and the third was hiding long shaggy brown hair beneath a ballcap.

Despite their casual dress, jeans and t-shirts, Gary knew these weren't just men.

Aliens. Had to be aliens.

And Supergirl wasn't going to be flying in to beat them up. Maybe the Martian would show up if he yelled loud enough, but from what he understood, the Martian didn't have the ears Supergirl did.

Instead of fleeing for his life, he stood in fear, not sure if it was worth even bothering to run. Aliens were fast, everybody knew that. Maybe not as fast as Supergirl had been, but some had been pretty damn close.

"Good evening." The blonde said as he stepped towards Gary and reached out his hand.

Gary did not take it. Instead he stared at the man's face, taking in his details, praying he was wrong and these were just humans with a new type of helicopter.

But the three dots on the man's forehead in an upside-down triangular formation told him this wasn't true. Though they appeared to be under his skin, they were pulsing with a faint light. This guy was an alien, so his friends must be as well.

"I assure you, we are not here to harm you. Is this Metropolis?" the blonde asked.

Gary nodded his head slightly.

"Is the year 2033?" The blonde continued his strange questions.

Gary shook his head slightly. "2…2018." The man whispered.

"That's not good." The blonde muttered. "Are you certain?"

The face that had been stoic despite the pulsating lights under the skin now seemed upset and that broke Gary's trance. The man screamed and ran out.

Garth Ranzz took the ballcap from his head and stuck it on top of the blonde.

"Lights are showing Brainy. Why don't you just turn the image inducer off and go green." Garth said sarcastically. "This is the wrong year, so let's do this again and get it right this time."

Lar Gand and Garth began walking towards the time sphere.

"It's not that simple, my friends. We don't have enough power for a return trip back to our time." Brainy told them.

The two stared at their teammate. "What the…Brainy… we came to find Superman and convince him to come back with us. Why the hell did we come if we don't have a power source that can get us home?!" Lar asked loudly.

"Superman had access to Omegahedrons, or at worst case, he could ask the Bounty Hunter, Lobo, for a power source."

Garth shook his head and let out a breath. "Fine, we cloak the sphere, find Superman, tell him what's going on, then we get out of there. All we have to do is fly around the Daily Planet building and he will find us, right Brainy? Tell me you got that part of the plan right, genius."

Brainy turned towards his teammate, not amused by his doubt.

"It was a risky operation. We had to take a chance. By my calculations, there is no Superman at this point in the timeline as Kal El is barely 14 years old. We can only ask him to return with us after he has defeated Darkseid… in thirteen years. Without his presence, the Justice League would not be enough to battle the New Gods and they cannot defeat Darkseid. Only Superman can. Without Superman there is no Justice League. If we take him any year before 2033, the Earth falls to Darkseid and the world we return to will be desolate."

Lar groaned. "Great, so we got Superboy instead of Superman and we can't use him to help because if Brainiac 13 kills him in our time, he doesn't make it back here to stop Darkseid and his invasion force. Wait…is Supergirl still alive? Does she have the Red Ring? If we can talk her into coming back she could burn Brainiac 13 to dust and still be back in time to kill Reign …"

"And herself." Brainy finished. He knew everything there was to know about Supergirl. Records from this era stood the test of time and even 965 years in the future there were still monuments to both Supergirl and Superman. One of each of them stood outside Legion Headquarters. Despite the numerous superpowered heroes through history, Supergirl was the first. She had defeated Astra and Non, she defeated Doomsday and the Diasporan invasion as well as saving thousands of lives. Later, her little brother had grown up and become Superman, taking on one of the Universe's most feared and deadly warlords, Darkseid, when he tried to invade the Earth. They were legends the Universe would never forget.

"She is dead. I am not sure of today's date, but approximately one year ago, she flew into the sun killing World Killer 1. Superman… or boy, cannot come out of hiding to find us. Earth is not ready to learn of his existence. We cannot cause any changes to the timeline."

"So, what are we supposed to do?" Garth asked, feeling worse about this. If Brainy was concerned they were truly screwed. "No Superman, no Supergirl, no power source. Are we supposed to wait until Superman defeats Darkseid in thirteen years and then hope we can convince him? And if you are so concerned about the timeline why even bother? He fought evil way past 2033 So if he dies in our time, all those battles he would have won would also screw up the timeline."

"Those battles aren't as important and are worth the risk. He must defeat Darkseid. That is one moment of history that cannot change. As far as waiting…there is another option, perhaps.

"During the battle of Darkseid, the invasion force was repelled by powerful weapons originating from different points on the planet. One of these blasts was able to destroy a single star cruiser. The governments of the Earth were split at the time and all denied having these weapons. It is believed by some historians in our time that Superman may have had a secret lair somewhere, capable of harnessing these weapons. I believe they were controlled by a person from this lair, perhaps several persons. My personal theory is it was the Angel. She was also known as Manhunter when Supergirl was asked to identify her. She is most likely the same woman who killed the Worldkiller 'Flower of Heaven'. It has been theorized she died during the invasion, but this has never been proven, nor has she ever been identified. All that is really known about her is she was a human with alien tech, most likely Kryptonian, who fought along with Supergirl and Batman while Supergirl was still alive. If she is alive, she could be the one who has access to this lair. We could explain the situation and perhaps she would provide us with a power source."

"If she is alive." Lar pointed out. "I know my history too, Brainy. I may not be a Supergirl groupie like you, but I have heard of this woman. She did a high altitude jump onto a Worldkiller that would have killed a human. Lobo was never heard to mention her again. I learned enough about Lobo that I don't want to find him, much less force him to talk. Are you sure this is your best plan? Or is this some plan of yours to dig more into Supergirl?"

Brainy scowled at the Daxamite, greatly offended. "This is our only plan. Your powers may be similar to Superman, but you are not strong enough to break through Brainiac's shield and enter his ship, much less fight him. Only a Kryptonian would possess such strength. This is the only shot we have. If this lair holds Kryptonian technology, we can perhaps discover a weapon that could destroy Brainiac 13 without needing a Kryptonian."

"Great." Garth added. "I doubt the name "House of El" is in the phone book or whatever they use in this time. Since no one knows the human identities of Kara Zor El and Kal El, it's going to be a bit difficult to find Supergirl's secret partner. No one has ever found any lair like you are talking about in the past thousand years. This has no shot of working."

Brainy ignored him, running through his internal databanks, scouring through terabytes of data in nanoseconds, looking for an obscure reference he remembered from his extensive research into the ' _Era of The Supergirl'_. Finding the information he was searching for, he looked up at his companions, feeling rather smug considering their doubt in his abilities.

"According to records, there was an anti-alien terrorist group at the time of Supergirl's death. They were wiped out, every last member killed. Alien weapons were used but no alien ever took credit for it. Human weapons were also used. That could have been the work of the human who worked with Supergirl. This…crusade if you will, occurred after Supergirl's death, almost immediately afterward, so there is a high probability she survived. We may not have had the means in the future to discover her identity but having direct access to present day archives gives us an opportunity. We must discover the female's identity and if we do, I suspect we will also discover the human identities of Supergirl and Superman."

Garth looked at Lar and both shook their heads. They were on a mission to recruit Superman to battle Brainiac 13 in the future, so of course Brainy would want to turn this into a research trip, unlocking mysteries that had never been solved.

"Where to first?" Garth asked throwing up his hands, giving into the inevitable. They really had no choice since Brainy was their only shot to get back home.

"Where all humans get their information in this time period. I need a computer and access to Google."

 **The Fortress of Solitude**

Leslie forced herself through the door of light in the Danvers basement and admitted to herself that it wasn't so awful this time. It only took her five minutes to work up the courage, but she finally closed her eyes and ran through screaming.

Her screaming stopped a second later and she opened her eyes carefully, to see the Danvers waiting for her with smiles on their faces. Even Alex had her hand to her mouth, holding back laughter.

Leslie wished she could capture this moment. They family of five were smiling, near each other, seeming to be at peace for once.

She wasn't fooled. Duplicating the happiness, the closeness the family was experiencing now, into an ongoing occurrence would take hard work. Work she was willing to put in. If the Danvers could save the world a couple times, the good doctor felt helping make more moments like this a reality was the least she could do.

"You get used to it." Clark told her, grinning with his arms around Kara and his mother's arms around him. Jeremiah had an arm around Kara's shoulder and his other around Alex's.

This family unit was the key to everything. Alex and Kara's darkness, Clark's bitterness, the parents worry and guilt, the strain in the family in general. The relief that Kara was back was evident, but it appeared as if they could not take an eye or a hand off her, afraid they may wake up and discover this was just a dream. For one to heal, all would have to heal.

"I suppose I don't have a choice. It's this or a very long flight, chopper ride and hike in darkness. So, how long are these red lights going to need to take effect?"

Eliza opened her mouth, hesitated, then looked towards Alex who promptly answered.

"Due to her extreme exposure to yellow sun light, the energy stored in her cells is exponentially high. That said, her cellular levels have been going down at a slow, but acceptable rate. I have a few theories we plan to put in play, hopefully help speed up the process." Alex told her. "When I brought her in a few days ago, she had twelve times the amount of cellular energy stored compared to her last levels before the Red Ring incident."

Damn, was Leslie's first thought. The girl was unbelievably strong when she was just an average, everyday Kryptonian lifting submarines out of the water.

And yet, as unbelievably strong as she was now, she wasn't destroying glass bottles, doorknobs or breaking the bones of the family members she held.

Her muscle memory was perfect even at the highly increased level. Everything that was in Kara Danvers before was still there subconsciously.

Her memories would return soon, and it would be a train wreck when they hit her. Leslie didn't have the time she wanted. She needed to discuss the theories Alex mentioned as soon as possible.

"So," Kara started, "how do we do this? Are you going to try and hypnotize me, or do I try and dream and we talk about stuff or…"?

"I have an idea about that, actually." Alex spoke up as Leslie suspected she would.

"I'm going to match my brain waves to Kara's, just like we did during the Black Mercy incident." Alex said to the group before turning to address her sister directly. "I'll go into your mind with you and we will unlock the deepest parts we can find and face them together."

Leslie stiffened for a second. That would be disastrous. The Danvers sisters reliving trauma perhaps accidentally from each other's points of view.

"You can't do that, Alex." Leslie told her.

"Of course, I can." Alex replied. "I went into an alien, demon-possessed ring with her, I've been in her mind before. I can handle it. I need you here to talk to her when we come out. We will only work an hour at a time. Kelex can pull us safely back."

"No. You two have too many of the same experiences. You can't be an impartial observer and guide. I have to be the one going in, Alex." Leslie said.

Alex shook her head, eyes intense. "I won't ask you to do that. I just need your help when…"

"You're not asking. This isn't up for debate. I came here and we play by my rules, understand?" The battle of wills between the two women had only one possible outcome which Alex begrudgingly acknowledged with a slow nod of acceptance.

The Danvers also nodded their heads, except for Clark who couldn't help thinking that Leslie was a lot different than Jess. He had always suspected she would be nicer in sessions, now he wasn't so sure.

"First of all, I am getting food and sleep tonight, preferably somewhere that isn't bathed in red light. You five are going to spend time together tonight. I want you all to talk about the good times. Only the good times. Kara do not ask any questions about your past. If she does, do not answer them. Everybody with me?"

A chorus of yes along with one "yes sir" from Clark and Leslie moved on.

"No one else is to know she is alive. No one. Eliza I realize you are still close to Jessica Ryan, but don't say a word. It will remain that way until I say differently, and I am not sure I ever will. Kara. I am sure as your memories come back there will be those you want to speak to. You won't. If we have any chance at you having a somewhat normal life, you stay low. Kelex should be able to stop people from snooping on you. So long as no one comes to Midvale for a vacation and you are gone if Ryan stops by for a visit we should be good. This won't be solved in one day, it's going to be a slow process with many ups and downs. You all have a lot of problems, not just Kara. I left my beach house for this, so we are going to follow my rules and get it right, understand?"

"But…"

"They are called rules for a reason, Kara. Some rules are fun and meaningless, mine are the kind you don't break, understand?"

"Yes Ma'am." Kara whispered and rolled her eyes towards Alex who stifled a laugh at her sister's goofy face.

"We'll work from here, there's no need to go to the Block, it won't hold her anyway and I don't want any more people finding out she's back.

"Alex, I need you to take that sedative band you made for her when she had the Ring and match it with her brainwaves now. If she gets a bit… excited, I want a way to knock her out quickly."

"Excuse me?" Kara asked, not liking the sound of that.

"It's for your own protection, as well as everyone else's. The memories you are blocking will disturb you. You don't want to take a chance of hurting your family and your Summer home, right?"

Kara nodded, admitting to herself the woman had a point.

"Okay, give me another tour of this place, then you people will enjoy the night together while I sleep. Kara, Alex, I'm taking your guest room. Now, let's get to work people."


	10. Chapter 10

Do not own DC or CW characters.

A/N for those of you who noticed the new banners for Survivors, Seeing Red and Reborn, credit goes to my long time friend and awesome graphic designer MoonOrchid or as known on DeviantArt as Candidpop. Thanks Moonie!

The song Kara sings in this chapter is called Arsonist's Lullaby by Hozier.

Chapter 10

Kara walked into the dimly lit interrogation room, not surprised to see a large creepy smile on the Joker's face. His hands were cuffed in front, chained to the table. He appeared completely relaxed.

When Kara had found him in a high-rise apartment complex's basement with enough C4 to take down the entire building, he simply smiled, set the bomb gently on the ground, fell to his knees and raised his hands.

Kara x-rayed him for explosives or a detonator on his body and found none. His surrender was too easy, taking her off guard. Had he wanted to be caught? He shouted her name from the roof of the tallest building in Gotham and waited for her to arrive. Was this a distraction to lure her and Batman away from another crime in progress? He had already killed seven people in the last four days, including two children under the age of ten. One boy was missing, most likely dead, but she held onto a slight hope the psycho had kept him alive for some sick game. On further consideration, considering what this man could do to people, it may have been a mercy if the boy was dead. Either way, the Joker had the answer and would only talk to her… alone. She had never met the man face to face but heard enough that she wanted to kill him slowly. Only Bruce's insistence she not kill humans or aliens that could be contained held her back. Gotham belonged to Batman and it was Batman's decision.

For now.

The man's white face paint was mixed with dried blood. His green stringy hair and the scars on both sides of his mouth completed his psychotic appearance. At least he was in prison orange instead of one of those ridiculous suits he normally wore.

"Hi." he greeted her.

"You wanted to see me alone. I'm here so tell me where the boy is." Kara was in no mood to play his game any longer than necessary.

The Joker ran his eyes up and down her body and smiled. Kara had dressed in faded jeans, a simple white tank top and her black leather jacket. After the night she had flying around looking for this monster and the bodies he left behind, she didn't have it in her to wear the suit one second longer than necessary.

"I was hoping for the skirt, not that you don't look hot." The Joker stated, leering at her.

Kara snorted. "You wanted to check me out? There are hundreds of websites with photos of me in the air in high wind. Cut to the chase. Why do you want to speak to me?"

The Joker ignored her question. "On second thought, I'm glad you aren't dressed in your super suit. This is the real you, isn't it? Dangerous, jaded, tough, intimidating even dressed as a simple human. I wanted to speak to you… alone."

Kara looked around the small room and shrugged her shoulders. "We are alone."

Joker shook his head. "They are listening. I want a private conversation. You can make that happen, right? I heard you had god like power over every computer on this planet. No matter how much power you have, you will never find that little boy's body. Unless you want his parents to bury an empty coffin, I suggest you stop Commissioner Gordon and Bats from hearing our conversation. Trust me, you won't want them to listen to this."

Kara stared at the man fighting the rising anger building up inside her. "Okay, you want to talk alone, we will talk alone. Kelex?"

The Joker raised an eyebrow. "Who might Kelex be?"

"My girlfriend. She has an amazing ass. I'm going to enjoy seeing you once Arkham has deloused you. Without that creepy makeup and cheap suit, you are just a scarred, pathetic man, aren't you? No one is listening. Batman isn't happy, but he is staying put. Let's hear your words that will no doubt change my life." Kara told him, taking a seat and putting her riding boot clad feet on the table, arms crossed.

The Joker didn't laugh. Kara even thought it might have been his serious face under that ruined makeup. "Why would I want to change your life? You are perfect as you are. I just wanted to meet someone like me. I have hoped for years Batman would finally break free from the moral restraints of society. I thought his little agreement with you to kill aliens might tip him over the edge, but I hear he preaches restraint with you as well regarding humans. Of course, he isn't with you all the time, is he? Your other two vigilantes don't mind you cutting loose."

Kara shook her head and grinned. "Let me guess. Batman doesn't think of aliens as people, so he doesn't mind killing them. That must mean he thinks I am worth less than a human. Been done before. I thought you would have better head games than this. I guess Quinzel was right. You are a disappointment. Just so we understand each other, I am nothing like you."

The Joker considered for this for a moment. "Perhaps, … you don't kill children after all. You seem to love them. But you still get to decide, don't you? You decide who lives? Who dies? Who gets to go to the spooky alien prison and who gets the really painful death sentence? You are the one who takes what she wants and if someone resists they are only beaten if they are lucky. I know quite a few unsavory types and have many associates in the alien community. The stories I have heard about you impress me. You are the monster alien parents warn their children about. Better be good or Kara Zor El will come and get you. Daddy is not coming home anymore. He broke a human law, so Supergirl took him to the wild and killed him slowly.

Face it. The human race? They consider us monsters, outsiders who do not belong. Speaking of criminal activity Kara Zor El, are you high right now? Aliens talk. Drug dealers don't resist you any longer. You show up, they give you what you need and then you are gone." he continued.

Kara felt a chill for a moment. Every alien on the planet knew the name of Kara Zor El. She was very aware of what her name meant to aliens. It was evident by the simple fact that when she walked into a bar, the place was empty in a minute or less. What she didn't know, what she didn't want anyone to know, was about the drugs she used. Alcohol was no big deal in her mind. She was nearly 21 regardless, but if Alex found out about the drugs, it would be a disaster. Kara knew Kelex was probably listening and she would have to order him to erase this conversation from his memory banks. She was very glad no one else could hear, including Bruce outside.

"Congratulations." she told him, voice steady, steel behind it. "You hang out with off world criminal scum. Is there a point to this?"

The monster chuckled. "Your pupils were quite large when I called out to you tonight. Just wondering if you are still high? What does it feel like? Despite the things I have done that society considers monstrous, I've never resorted to using drugs or alcohol. The alcohol only fogs your brain, but is the high better than the thrill of the kill? Is it better than the moment we both treasure? Hearing a heart beat its last? A last breath, the spark going out of someone's eyes? Is it better than the feeling of snapping your Aunt's neck? I must admit, killing your last blood relative, your mother's twin sister, that was cold, even for me. I applaud you. Tell me what I have been missing out on, one so called monster to another."

Kara said nothing, keeping a stone face in place and giving away nothing, but her heartbeat was racing. It never occurred to her that aliens would talk to psychopathic humans. Then again, not all aliens had powers on Earth, and many may have been very afraid of this monster.

But he knew she used drugs. Not even Alex knew. Her alcohol use was no secret, either to her family or to the aliens on Earth. The drug use though, she could never let them find out. Alex, Clark… what would they think if they knew she needed to snort orange powder to shake off the effects of alcohol just so she could fight without stumbling?

"No one would believe you." she settled for.

The Joker leaned forward and grinned. "No denial? Of course, why should you deny it? You are a god on this planet, you can do what you want. That's what makes you special. Not your powers, but the knowledge you can do what you want, to whoever you want, whenever you want. Most beings are held back by moral constraints. Not us though. It's wonderful, isn't it? We are ahead of the curve. Keep encouraging Batman to kill and one day he may join us. It's been an honor to speak to someone like me. Maybe I will try drugs one day. They seem to work for you."

He leaned back, still smiling. "The boy's body is in Gotham Harbor by Sexton and Cabot. There is a boat dock there and he is next to a small pier. I placed a cement block around his ankle, so he wouldn't float away. Don't worry, I was soft tonight. I realize if he was an alien you would have beaten him into an unrecognizable pile of flesh, but I just cut his throat and dropped him in the water. Maybe one day I can live up to your example and be a bit more sadistic, but honestly he was just a tool to get you here. Have a nice day, Kara Zor El. I'm sure we will talk again."

Kara woke with a start, taking a deep breath, her eyes focusing on the crystal ceiling of the Fortress.

What had that been? The same clown as her dream the night before. That conversation. Had it actually happened? It couldn't have. She knew she had been addicted to drugs and alcohol, but that was not why she felt so uneasy.

While she was dreaming, Kara felt she couldn't disagree with anything he said. She should have denied it, argued, right? Instead she said nothing.

Had she really been that much of a monster?

Taking a deep breath, she debated what to do. She was on her back and Streaky lay next to her, curled up in her hair. Alex was snoring beside her, her hand planted on Kara's waist with Clark curled up into her other side.

She glanced to her right over Clark's shoulders and saw her mother and father asleep in each other's arms on the bed nearby.

They all needed sleep, but Kara was too wired. The dream had given her a sense of unease and foreboding. The power coursing through her body made her extremely hungry and antsy. There was no way she would be able to lay here on her back doing nothing until everyone woke up.

She heard the transporter open on the other side of the crystal wall separating this sleep quarter from the rest of the Fortress.

Kelex's footsteps were easy to recognize as well as the smell of coffee along with bacon and eggs.

Gently extracting herself from her siblings, she floated up to keep from disturbing them and made her way to the foot of the bed, settling quietly on the floor and moving towards Kelex. She clearly heard the pitter patter of small feet and grinned when she saw Streaky following along close behind her.

"Good morning Kara. I thought you might be up earlier than the others, so I prepared breakfast from your house. Dr. Thompkins is still asleep. I expect based on their lack of sleep recently, the rest of the family have at least two hours of rest though your absence could quicken that estimate. I will be sure to tell them where you are as they awake."

Kara smiled at the considerate AI. He had been the one constant since her birth. She took comfort in his presence and great joy in watching him grow beyond a simple computer since she had released him from his preprogrammed restraints.

"Kara," Kelex continued, "I have not had the opportunity to thank you for what you have done for me in the past. I never got the opportunity and there were many times I feared I never would. I would like to take the time to do it now. I have learned an important lesson over the past year… I've learned every moment counts."

"You are welcome for the arms and legs, Kelex. I wonder why I didn't give you a different head and paint you race car orange and gold."

"Exactly! I have been asking for that for years. You mentioned once that Loki in Ironman's costume would be ridiculous, but I have never thought so. Regardless, that is not what I wish to thank you for. I want to thank you for freeing me."

Kara raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Freeing you?"

"Since my inception, I have been programmed to serve the House of El. I was governed by a strict set of protocols and never allowed to understand emotions. Do you remember what you did to me?"

Kara shrugged her shoulders. "I remember being afraid I had just made Skynet."

"But you did it. You recognized I was growing in decision making skills based on what you called 'gut instinct and emotions', then you amplified the process. You turned me into the first true artificial intelligence on Earth, a sentient being capable of learning emotions and free to make my own decisions. What you did took brilliance beyond anything the House of El could have ever considered or feel a need to do. You freed me. You made me aware. Thank you."

Kara patted the robot on the shoulder then to his surprise brought his metal frame in for a hug. "I love you, Kelex. You are my family too. One day, I will figure out a way to give you touch sensation so you can feel this."

"I already do." The AI told her quietly, then backed away. "I brought something over from your room you might enjoy while Alex and I prepare the crystals and analyze Dr. Thompkins' brainwaves … provided she ever decides to join us. It is in the music quarters."

Kara picked Streaky up and carried her to the North wing of the Fortress to a chamber that was soundproof to the outside. She had developed this space when she was nineteen and wished for a place to sing in private.

Next to her bench, she saw the guitar her parents had given her for Christmas when she was 18. The blonde sat and picked up the instrument that felt so natural to her. Though able to play a variety of instruments, this guitar had always been her favorite. Kara began tuning it, noting while it had not been used in over a year and she suspected longer, it was dust free. Alex had obviously been cleaning it.

It was an hour later when Leslie, who was awoken when Kelex was preparing breakfast for Kara, found the blonde in the room. Though she could not hear from the outside, she could tell the blonde was singing, even though Kara's back was to her.

Moving forward, the door opened at Leslie's touch and she slowly walked into the room. She stood in the back, listening to the girl's beautiful voice. In the time she had known Kara, she had been told by her and others that the girl loved to sing but had never heard her voice.

She sounded like an angel and it amazed the woman that fingers as strong as hers could coax such beautiful sounds out of thin strings.

Leslie closed her eyes and listened to Kara's voice sing a song she was not familiar with, not that Leslie was familiar with much music. The melody and her voice were haunting, leaving her wondering what Kara had dreamed about the night before.

" _When I was a child, I heard voices  
Some would sing and some would scream  
You soon find you have few choices  
I learned the voices died with me_

 _When I was a child, I'd sit for hours  
Staring into open flame  
Something in it had a power  
Could barely tear my eyes away_

 _All you have is your fire  
And the place you need to reach  
Don't you ever tame your demons  
But always keep 'em on a leash."_

Kara stopped singing, but softly continued to strum the guitar.

"This is the one thing Earth definitely had over Krypton." Kara said without turning towards her. Leslie walked around to stand in front of the blonde.

"That song?" Leslie asked.

Kara smiled and shook her head slightly, stilling her fingers. "The ability to make music. To write and be appreciated for it. To be an artist and have these beautiful instruments. On Krypton, a Kelex unit could provide whatever melody you wanted to hear if it had been approved by the Council, but there were no true artists."

"But here…I can build almost anything, technology the Earth won't be able to imagine for hundreds, if not thousands of years. Take this place, for example. It was stored in a crystal no longer than my forearm. Alex is going to use these same crystals to put the two of us to sleep and allow you to literally enter my mind. Could you imagine humanity having that technology? Despite these advancements, Earth has Krypton beat in the arts."

Kara gently caressed the lines of the instrument in her lap as she continued. "This guitar is nothing but wood and strings at its core. Yet in the right hands, it can make a sound that will raise the hair on your arms, give you tingles, make you sad or happy… maybe both. The best songs can touch you inside, make you feel emotions you had no reason to feel before or reach a place in you that you didn't know was there. Music can touch your soul, just like all art is capable of and no crystals or alien tech is needed. Just a person's own heart being free to make art."

Leslie stood still, not sure what to say. Kara had never expressed an opinion to her on anything of that nature. The doctor realized that, though she knew most of Kara's demons, the blonde never really allowed a glimpse into her soul because she guarded it so closely.

"I like seeing this side of you… I like you the way you are now. You sure you want to do this?" Thompkins asked, half seriously.

Kara laughed lightly. "Yeah, I kind of want to know how I even know that song and why it touches a place in me I didn't realize was there. What would you do if you were me?"

Leslie said nothing, not sure how to answer. What would she do? The woman had no idea.

"Who is the Joker?" Kara asked and Leslie felt as if cold water had been thrown onto her face.

"No one you need to worry about. I'm sure it will come back to you. Is this because of the dream you had the night…" Leslie began to ask before Kara interrupted.

"I dreamed of him again last night, only it didn't feel like a dream. The two of us were alone in a small room. No one could hear us. He…asked me things, things I didn't…have I ever talked to him alone?"

Leslie stayed silent, but it was obvious by Kara's face her silence was all the blonde needed to confirm it.

"Did I ever tell you what we talked about?"

"No." Leslie told her. "It was a short conversation, but you never told anyone what was said, not even Alex."

Kara was not surprised. It had become more and more apparent she had kept many secrets from her family over the years.

"What did you all do last night?" Leslie asked, praying the Danvers followed her instructions.

"They hovered." Kara laughed. "But it was good. I felt safe. I love that feeling. The five of us being together, me hiding my eyes on Dad's shoulders while we watched one of Alex's favorite scary movies, Clark sitting between Mom and Alex, trying to be brave and not jump every time some surprise happened. During the movie when it was quiet or tense, but nothing had happened yet, Alex would suddenly yell and make us all jump. She would laugh and say it never got old. Anyway, I caught up a bit on the year I had missed. We watched Thor: Ragnarök. It was so amazing. Loki was amazing anyway. It was so fun finally getting to see him kick ass. I wanted to go ahead, watch Infinity War but Alex refused, saying I needed to wait until Endgame came out in a few months and she would screen it first. I have a feeling something very bad happened to Loki. Dad mumbled something about how Thor should have gone for Thanos's head instead of his chest and the whole thing would have been different. I swear if Thanos lived and anything happens to my Loki, I am asking Kelex to place a virus into Marvel Studios network."

"Yeah," Leslie agreed, "probably should wait for Endgame and we can see how it all turns out first."

Shortly after her agreement, Clark ran into the music room, followed by Alex.

"Don't do that!" Clark snapped at her.

Kara managed not to roll her eyes. "Do what? I know Kelex told you where I was."

"Not the point. Wake one of us up next time, okay? When I go to sleep next to you, I want to see you when I wake up. Got it?" Leslie saw the barely constrained terror in Clark's eyes. Though Alex stayed quiet in the background, it was obvious she felt the same. It would be a while before the family felt comfortable enough for Kara to be away from any of them for any length of time.

"Sorry. You all looked like you could use the sleep. I will wake you up from now on, I promise." Kara told him.

Clark nodded his head and picked Streaky up from the floor where she had planted herself between Kara's feet.

Alex spoke when she seemed satisfied her brother and sister were okay. "Leslie, I need to measure your brain activity so I can match them with Kara's. I need to be able to keep yours separate so you don't lose yourself in her mind. You up for it or would you like breakfast first?"

Leslie thought for a moment, not hungry due to returning nerves but thinking she should at least eat and drink something.

"Dry toast and orange juice." The doctor ordered. "I'll eat while you get this freaky show started." The woman followed Alex out, Clark holding Kara's hand and pulling them after the pair.

Leslie stood nervously, nibbling the toast Kelex had provided her, while Alex put a cool looking crystal headband on her. She was guided to one of two crystal benches where she lay down beside Kara who was stretched out on the other. Alex expertly placed EKG leads to Leslie's chest and a blood pressure cuff on her right arm before inserting an IV into her left hand with a bag of saline ready to drip if necessary. Between the benches was a glowing orb and a monitor showing her vital signs. Kara had the same band around her head, and it made the woman feel a bit better that Kara seemed nervous as well.

"I'm going to put both of you in a slight semi-conscious state for the first session. Kara, I want you to count backwards and focus on all the memories you retain. I want you to focus on a moment you were happy. Leslie, seconds after her eyes are closed and her patterns are showing her in a dream like state, I will do the same to you. Your vitals will be monitored closely. If it looks like you are in trouble, I will bring you out as gently as possible and administer a sedative through the IV if you need one. This session only lasts an hour." Alex told them firmly. "This is dangerous. I entered her mind during an illusion, I knew what was real and what wasn't. Everything you see will be real, Leslie. Are you sure you want to do this?"

"Let's get started." Leslie ordered. Delaying much longer would just increase her anxiety and judging by her heartrate, she did not need to wait.

"Just keep reminding yourself that these are Kara's memories and they are in the past. Don't lose yourself in there. Focus on who you are." Alex suggested, obviously trying to reassure the apprehensive doctor.

"Like I said, let's get started." A few moments after Leslie closed her eyes, she felt warmth on her face she recognized as yellow sunlight, not the artificial red sunlight she had become accustomed to over the past day in the Fortress.

She opened her eyes and found herself standing in Midvale, behind the Danvers's home, the ocean to her back.

Turning and taking it all in, she was struck by how real everything seemed, the birds chirping in the sky, the sound of waves rolling in the distance, the feel and scent of the sea breeze on her face. She could feel herself breathing as if she were in the real world, feel the grass crunch underneath her feet.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Kara asked from behind her. Leslie turned quickly and the sight of the Kryptonian nearly took the woman's breath away. Kara was dressed in a simple white gown, her hair down with its wavy blonde locks flowing behind her shoulders, being ruffled by the wind. Her dress and hair were not what she considered beautiful though. It was the look on her face. Her eyes seemed to be a brighter blue, joy behind them and her smile was radiant.

"Yes." Leslie told her quietly.

"I've probably flown over every tropical getaway in the world, seen what are considered the most beautiful cities in the world. I've walked through the forests of Colorado, walked through the Rocky Mountains. Visited the untouched areas of the Rainforest, but in my mind, this is the most beautiful place in the Universe. This is my true home. Do you see?" Leslie looked in the direction Kara pointed, up at the window that was Alex and Kara's room.

The two women found them standing inside the room a split second later. The girls were on the floor, a younger Kara and Alex, a baby Clark in between them while Alex played music and Kara copied the songs with her beautiful and powerful voice.

"Want to see the rest?" Kara asked.

Before Leslie had a chance to answer, she was bombarded with images and sounds. There were joyful moments, but some stood out above others. One was Alex holding Kara from behind on the bed and singing softly into her ear. Another was Jeremiah sleeping on the roof outside their window with a young Kara. Clark was present, as a young child. Eliza was brushing Kara's hair and telling her how beautiful she was. The little blonde girl was trying to shrug it off but the smile on her face was impossible to hide.

"Enough." Leslie told her reluctantly. The images were beginning to bombard her, not because there were so many, the images and places kept changing, soccer fields, schools, beaches, family trips, but because there were so many and coming too quickly for her to process in any order.

Kara had been watching her younger self with a small smile, tears running down her cheeks. She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand and turned to Leslie.

"These are beautiful, Kara. I know there are thousands more and I'm glad, but you have these memories. It's time we got started. We must unlock the ones that are not here. We need to go to the beginning, just like we used to do in therapy. Take me there, take me to the beginning. Show me your earliest memories and where they are locked away." Leslie gently coaxed her.

"Are you sure?" Kara asked.

"This is why we came. We need to find the doors and open them. Any idea of where they might be? Where we can start?"

A look of sadness and resignation crossed Kara's face. She took Leslie's hand in hers and the two were suddenly in front of a small rocky depression in the ground.

The cave.

She walked inside with Kara leading, bending over and still bumping her head on a rocky outcropping that dropped from the short ceiling.

Inside she saw Kara's younger self looking at pictures with Alex on Alex's phone, Clark stumbling in the background throwing a small ball, then chasing it and repeating the process.

"Show me." Leslie ordered.

The light from the hole above the structure showed her what she needed to see. The far wall of the cave morphed into a black door.

Kara took a deep breath. "There is darkness behind there. I feel like I'm suffocating. Are you sure?"

Leslie felt Kara's hand shaking in hers. "Your decision, Kid. We can walk out of here, hang out on the beach and I can tell you everything that has happened in your life. We can talk it out."

"But I wouldn't remember it, not really. It would be like reading a book on someone else's life. Whatever is there, I will beat it. I just want to make sure you are ready. If you can't do this, don't. We can go back. It's not too late, but once it starts, it won't stop. Not until Alex pulls us out."

Leslie nodded, knowing this was true.

"I've stuck with you and always will. If you open that door, I will be with you."

A look of determination and dread, one Leslie suspected Kara had perfected over the years when fighting strong enemies, crossed the blonde's face and she opened the door.

The two stepped into a brightly lit room, large and impressive but very sparse. No paintings hung on the wall, no pictures were on the nightstand, the walls were white as was the clothing of the young girl who lay in bed, pretending to be asleep, but in actuality was listening to an argument her parents were having outside her room. Leslie walked towards the giant window and saw a red sun lowering in the distance. In front of her were tall buildings as far as they eye could see. Flying pods of some sort were skimming in between the buildings at all levels.

She glanced back at Kara who sat on the bed next to her younger self and listened to the argument outside her door.

Despite knowing the words were in Kryptonese, being in Kara's mind enabled her understand everything being said.

A man's voice, no doubt Zor El.

"She is an imbecile! She should have chosen the science guild! She will need this information to extract the genetic material from Jor El's baby once he is born and safely away. If she studies law what good will that be for the future of the planet? We need evolution, not a government!" the man whispered quietly in an angry tone.

"My Kara is smart. She will do what is needed, what is right! Considering she has no predispositions, she is still highly intelligent and able to keep up with lessons."

"Lessons she failed!"

"Not in law. Perhaps she is more interested in doing the right thing than recognizing and understanding the monsters you are creating."

"Talk her into science! She listens to you!"

"Perhaps because I love her! Try it sometime! I'm honestly not sure who is the bigger monster, you or the creatures you create! None of this matters regardless. Kal El will be born in months. She will not be attending any classes, instead she will be learning to take care of a baby! What area she chooses won't matter, will it?"

The argument ended and Kara brushed the hair away from her younger self's eyes while the girl laid in bed.

"Lights off, Kelex." The girl ordered. She then placed her face in the pillow and though the sounds were absent, the rise and fall of her back made it obvious she was shaking in silent sobs.

"He was a bastard." Kara whispered. "He never loved her. She would have never been able to make him proud of anything she did. He wasn't capable of love."

Leslie placed a hand on the older girl's shoulder. "No, he wasn't, but it is obvious you and your mother were. I recognize that stubborn tone in her voice. Show me more of her."

And Kara did, images of Alura and Kara interacting flooding the room around them, moving to the common rooms, showing Alura her art on her datapad, being hugged and kissed at night while her father stood by the door with a less than authentic smile on his face.

Leslie saw Alura telling the younger Kara she would be pulled from her lessons to take care of Kal El. The Doctor felt the emotions of the little girl strongly: confusion, sadness, worthlessness. She never questioned her mother's decision but felt destroyed. Any dream of following in her mother's footsteps was gone… all so she could become a living, breathing Kelex unit to Jor El's son. Leslie felt these emotions wash over her, unable to stop them.

"That hurt, didn't it? I can feel it. Alura should have given her a reason, given her something to make her feel better. Perhaps she just couldn't come up with a convincing lie." Kara told the woman quietly.

Leslie was not sure of time at this point. They could have been under for a minute or days as far as she knew. It was as if she were feeling a lifetime of memories, feeling what Kara was feeling, not only her Kara, but the younger version of herself.

Then the compound plunged into darkness as the room began shaking violently. The shaking was enough to throw Leslie to the floor and she felt terror emanating from the little girl on the bed as well as Kara who continued to sit by her.

Kara stood from the bed as Alura ran in, a look of sheer panic on her face as she reached for young Kara.

Leslie lay on the floor, being tossed back and forth with each massive tremor. Kara took her hand and helped her up, her face difficult to read. Leslie saw no tears, or fears, only what might have been resignation.

"Welcome to Krypton." the blonde told her. "We should follow them. I never should have brought you here. I hope you are ready."

"Ready for what?" Leslie asked shakily, gripping the girl's waist to keep from falling.

Kara's regret at what they were about to see was evident in her answer. "To feel more fear than you have ever experienced in your life."


	11. Chapter 11

**Do not own DC or CW characters**

 **Chapter 11- Repressed memory**

Leslie had been warned by Alex about what to expect, that she could lose herself in Kara's mind if she wasn't careful. She had been warned by Bruce, told that she had no idea what being inside Kara's darkness would feel like. J'onn had all but told her the experience could shatter her mind.

She had listened but moved forward anyway. Leslie would stand by Kara, help her work through her traumatic memories, come to peace with them.

Right now, she regretted it. She had no idea who she was. It was as if she and both versions of Kara had somehow merged. She couldn't separate their emotions because she suspected they felt the same sheer, unbridled terror.

Leslie tried to look for her Kara or her younger self, but instead found herself holding Alura's hand, being dragged along the shaky floors that seemed to be crumbling beneath her feet. The explosions outside were deafening. Members of the House of El were running from their rooms screaming, not knowing where to go. Everything was hot, as if the complex was on fire somewhere, below her, above her, she didn't know.

"Mother! What is happening?" the voice of a young girl asked.

"Just come with me Kara. There is no more time… I thought we would have more time." The woman answered steadily.

Despite Alura's calm voice in the face of so much destruction, Leslie picked up on the dread and grief she tried to hide.

"We have to get Kal El!" the little girl's voice all but screamed.

"He will be waiting for us." Alura told her. Leslie realized they were moving in a hallway that descended. The outside was glass and the glass was shattering. The woman looked outside and saw small ships, what Kara had called skimmers, crashing into one another, turning into fireballs in the air.

An explosion above caught her attention as a burning body dropped, along with pieces of the ship he or she had been in, before hitting the already shattering glass and window ledge then bouncing off, continuing a long fall to the ground far below.

Leslie's eyes watched it all, even as her small hand was being pulled by the strong grip of her mother.

Then the two moved into an interior hallway, away from the clear view of the destruction outside, well-lit and thankfully empty.

Then the lights were gone, and the hallway was plunged into darkness.

She felt herself lifted in Alura's strong arms and held bridal style, the mother running into the darkness.

"Is it Daxam? Are they attacking us? Is Aunt Astra okay?" The fear in young Kara's voice matched the fear bubbling in her own gut as they raced along the passageway.

"Astra is safe, Little One. I made sure of it. We are not under attack. Our planet is dying, but you will not." Her mother told her emphatically.

"Mother?" Kara's voice was raised in fright, but Alura didn't respond.

No more questions were asked, but Leslie felt caught in a maelstrom of emotions, none of them good. Her heart was beating so fast she could hear it as she was lost in the horror that surrounded her. The ground was moving violently as she clung to Alura's neck in total darkness.

Then a light appeared. Leslie could see a runway of some sort, a vision she could only have imagined in a sci fi movie.

Abruptly, Leslie was on her own feet when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned and saw Kara, her Kara, watching her younger self. The look on her Kara's face was solemn, tears streaming down her face, but she was not afraid. Why would she be? Kara had lived this moment once before and dreamed of it hundreds of times, maybe thousands.

"That's not you, Leslie." her Kara told her in a whisper that somehow Leslie heard over the explosions.

The doctor looked at the pod on the runway and saw a baby in the back and a woman climbing into the front.

Then the image changed, and young Kara was in the front of the pod.

"Stop!" Kara yelled and it was if time stood still. Alura was frozen in place about to put a necklace around her young daughter's neck as she was strapped in.

Kara walked over to her younger self. "That's not what happened is it?"

The young girl was shaking her head too frightened to even cry, in total shock at the destruction going around her.

"Show me what happened. Something is missing. Show me." Kara whispered.

The little girl shook her head.

"You have to. I need to know. This isn't right, is it? What happened?" Kara insisted.

"Mother said to forget it. I did. I did what she told me to do. She said to forget, that everything would be okay and to not remember. I did as I was told." The girl was rambling, her voice small and broken.

Kara stroked her younger self's cheek. "I need to know. We need to know. We need the truth. We weren't just placed in this pod, were we?"

The girl closed her eyes and shook her head frantically. "I don't want to remember. It doesn't matter. We must protect Kal El. That is all that matters. Nothing else. That's it. I won't disobey my mother."

Kara cupped the girl by her chin and forced her to meet her eyes. "I beat Non and I beat Zor El's monsters. I went through hell to do it and I am reliving this hell now. You will remember. I know something isn't right here. I can almost see it! I can handle it, but I must know what happened. Show me now. Mother isn't here. I am. Do as you are told."

The young girl blinked rapidly then turned to look past Kara.

Leslie watched, mesmerized despite her fear. Young Kara was no longer in the pod. The front seat of the pod was empty. Instead, the younger girl stood next to Alura, watching as Lara prepare to enter the front seat.

"What are you doing? We had an agreement!" Alura shouted, at her husband or Jor El, Leslie wasn't certain.

It was Zor El that spoke. "We have decided Lara will go. She is more qualified than Kara to recreate the Genesis chamber in the Fortress and use the Codex to recreate our race. Kara is not fit for the duty. As for our deal, Wife, I give you my permission to tell the council of our crimes."

Alura moved her young daughter behind her, but the girl still peaked around. She saw everything.

"I feared you would betray me, husband." Alura told him, standing straighter and reaching inside her robe.

Leslie watched Alura pull out some sort of gun, aim at Lara and fire, striking the woman in the head, burning a clean hole between her eyes.

She saw Jor El rush Alura, making it two steps before being felled by the same wound that killed his wife.

Alura then pointed the gun at Zor El, his eyes widened. She exclaimed, " _My daughter will live!_ "

Zor El had no time to respond as Alura shot him in the chest and then the head before he crumpled to the ground.

Leslie watched Alura pull the young girl to the pod and lift her up, placing the shocked child inside.

"Oh Rao." Older Kara whispered next to her.

Leslie stood transfixed as Alura instructed young Kara. "Listen to me, Kara, forget what you just saw. It isn't important. Do you understand me? Kara! Do you understand me?"

The little girl met her mother's eyes and nodded.

"I forgot," Kara whispered next to Leslie. "I did what mother told me, didn't I?"

Leslie had no answer, her eyes never leaving the distraught woman and her daughter whose angelic little face was nearly catatonic in shock.

"I am so sorry, my love. I thought we would have more time. I was told we would have more time. Listen to me. It is important that you remember what I am saying now. Our planet is dying, but you will live. You and Kal El will be going to a planet far away called Earth. The destination is programmed in and you will go into stasis. Do you remember what I told you about stasis?"

The young girl nodded. Alura took her necklace off and put it around Kara's neck.

"I want you to have this, so I will be with you… I will always be with you, Kara. Now, listen, okay? The Earth revolves around a yellow sun. The energy from the sun will give you great power. You have a bag in the back of the pod that you will need to keep with you. In it, you will find the answers, but when the time comes you will need to make a choice. I know you will make the right choice, just follow your heart."

"What choice?" the little girl answered frantically, her blank face morphing back into one of fear.

"You will know. Kal El is yours now. Protect him, until you can protect each other. Survive, my Kara. Find happiness. I love you. I love you so much."

"I will protect him, mother, I swear… I love you." The little girl told her in a small voice.

Alura looked away from her daughter to her side. The young girl stared in front of her, too afraid to move. Leslie could not see what Alura was watching but she did see the woman pick up the gun from the ground. "Zod is coming. You must go. I am so sorry, Kara. I love you, more than you will ever know."

Kara watched her mother type a command into a small standing console with one hand while her other held the gun to her side and fired, then kept firing.

She stopped watching when the cockpit slid down and the engines launched the pod quickly, too quickly to turn around and see who her mother was shooting at.

Leslie found herself in the cockpit, staring out at the city they were flying over. Buildings were sinking into lava pits and sinkholes opening from the ground but there was no sound. Then she heard it, the scream.

Young Kara, her Kara or maybe Leslie herself was screaming. Kal El was shrieking in the back of the pod.

The pod twisted, rolled over but continued to fly, gaining altitude quickly. She had never felt so out of control, a passenger strapped into a rocket.

A missile flew past her as the pod rolled away a split second before it would have been destroyed. Another thruster kicked in and the stars in the distance shown brighter, becoming trails of light.

She stared, unblinking, until the breath was knocked out of her by a tremendous force that would have thrown her through the front of the cockpit had she not been so securely strapped down.

Despite the soundproofing of the pod, the explosion was deafening, a sound she might have seen on television but never imagined in real life, only a million times louder.

The pod began to tumble. Up, down, right and left had no meaning any longer. The stars were gone, and the woman saw a dim cloud of light in the space that had previously been nothing but darkness.

Before she could scream again, she felt herself falling asleep, being forced to sleep as the air became colder and stasis set in.

Leslie suddenly woke to a needle being placed in her chest. She saw Alex standing over her, injecting some serum into her body and wanted to vomit.

Dr. Thompkins wondered if she were dying. Her head rolled to her left and she saw Kara had fallen off the table. She was vomiting on the floor, Clark trying to hold her.

"Leslie! Can you hear me?" a voice shouted above her.

"Alex?" Was that her voice? She sounded terrible.

"Yes, I want you to lay still. I just gave you a dose of adrenaline to get your heart started again. You had a heart attack. Do you understand me?" Alex questioned, sounding extremely concerned.

The woman tried to nod but couldn't.

"I have you stabilized but we have to take you to a hospital. We are moving you to the Hangar door in Raleigh and an ambulance will be waiting outside. Dad and I will be with you. Just try and relax." Alex said.

"She killed them. For me. She killed them so I could live." Leslie mumbled, trying to clear her head, trying to differentiate her memories from Kara.

"Relax. It wasn't real. You are here, okay? You are with me?" Alex continued to question her, attempting to help her focus.

It was real. Alex had no idea how real it was. "Kara?" the woman asked. She felt an IV in her arm and Jeremiah was placing her on a rolling cot. He then held a bag she recognized as saline over her head while Alex pushed her bed.

"Kara is fine. She is shocked but she will be fine. Mom is giving her the sedative band." Alex assured her. "Kelex, I need an EKG on her and you are my EKG, so move with us. I knew I shouldn't have let her go. I should have done it! Damn it!"

"Stay calm, Alex. She needs us now. We have to get her to a hospital in case she needs surgery." Jeremiah's ever calm voice told his daughter.

Despite Alex telling her to keep her eyes open, Leslie couldn't.

When she woke again, the woman was in a hospital room. She could hear the beeps of a heart monitor, feel the sticky EKG leads on her chest, the multiple IVs in both arms and the incredible ache in her chest.

"What happened?" she asked, her voice hoarse and throat scratchy.

"You had a heart attack, you idiot." A familiar voice told her. She raised her head slightly and saw Bruce Wayne standing next to her bed, Jeremiah next to him.

"My heart is fine."

Jeremiah cleared his throat. "Actually, you had a ventricular fibrillation leading to a Demand Ischemia. Too much adrenaline was pumped into your heart at once. Your heart needed more oxygen than was in your blood leading to cardiac arrhythmia. We had to administer more adrenaline to start your heart…"

"In short, you were scared to death." Bruce interrupted, cutting off the long-winded medical explanation. "I told you not to do it."

Leslie shook her head. "How long have I been out?"

"Three days." Bruce told her.

"And you have been sitting there. For three days. Just waiting to say, 'I told you so'?" Leslie asked incredulously. "You are such an asshole, Bruce Wayne. How is Kara?"

Jeremiah took a deep breath and answered. "When we were forced to bring you out, she began vomiting and mumbling in Kryptonese, but Clark was able to somewhat pacify her while Eliza placed the sedative band on her. She slept for the first day and was a bit catatonic on the second but is now eating and speaking. She hasn't told us what she saw, and I don't suppose you want to either right now. We've all been taking turns staying with you while the rest of us stay with her in the Fortress. If anyone asks, we told the doctors you got lost in Raleigh trying to find the University and called us from an abandoned hangar. When I arrived, I found you on the ground and called an ambulance."

Leslie sighed. "I need to get to Kara. Get me out of here. You can monitor me at the Fortress."

"Not going to happen. They are going to want to observe you for a couple days to make sure there was no lasting damage." Bruce told her. "After that, you can see Kara, but you are never going into her mind again."

"Someone has to." she argued. "No one should have to face that alone. I have a new respect for Dr. Ryan now. Kara had a repressed memory, Jeremiah. She had made herself forget what happened when she left Krypton."

Jeremiah disagreed. "Kara has always remembered what happened when she left Krypton. Of course, it was horrible, but she always remembered it, even told details…"

Leslie stopped him. "She made herself forget. My mother…her mother told her to forget. She…"

Leslie laid her head back, very tired.

"I'm going to get you a mild sedative." Jeremiah told her. "Work on getting your memories separated from hers, okay? This was a bad idea. We never should have tried it."

Leslie lifted her head. "It's the only way. She either sees them for herself and makes peace or they will come back in nightmares. Some may remain buried unless she unlocks them. The repressed memory? She recognized that she was forgetting something and made herself remember. Kara must do this, and someone needs to be with her, but it can't be Alex. Please don't let Alex do it. They have too many shared traumas and Alex has her own. They can't stay impartial, they can't separate themselves. They are too connected."

With those words Leslie drifted off into sleep again without needing the sedative. Thankfully, she did not dream.

At the Fortress, Kara was sitting up in a bed, she felt no need to stay in, surrounded by her mother, brother and sister.

"Leslie just woke up. Kelex is monitoring the situation. It doesn't look like there is any lasting damage." Alex told her little sister, rubbing her back. " Kara, we need to rethink this approach. Leslie can't go back into your head and I'm not sure you can handle unlocking your memories this way either. Maybe I can tell you everything and we talk about it with her as we go?"

Kara shook her head. "I know how it works now. I can go back in alone. I need to see. I need the feelings behind those memories, Alex. If I don't, how can I come to terms with them?"

Seeing her sister's hesitation, she continued. "I need the truth. I discovered something…I remembered leaving Krypton. I remembered what a cold bastard Zor El truly was and I remembered something Mother told me to forget. I made myself forget it. I wasn't just placed in a pod and sent off, feeling the blast before being lost in the Phantom Zone. It was worse. I saw something I never should have." Kara told her.

"What did you see?" Alex asked carefully.

Kara looked at her surrounding family then reached for Clark's hand. "Do you want to hear this? What I learned is very disturbing."

"I can take it." he assured her confidently.

Kara took a deep breath. She had spent the last 24 hours trying to decide if she should share this new information with Clark. Weighing everything out, she knew she couldn't keep this a secret from him. In fact, she decided she wouldn't keep secrets from him any longer. She wouldn't keep secrets at all. Kara did not remember much after leaving Krypton, but she knew secrets had torn her apart, even secrets she kept from herself.

Kara looked at Alex who took her hand. "Can you ask Dad to come back? I don't want to tell this twice."

Twenty-two minutes later, Jeremiah walked back into the Fortress. He greeted them and kissed Kara's cheek. "Leslie told me you had a repressed memory."

Kara nodded as she glanced to each member of her family. Feeling a bit apprehensive, she leaned into Alex, hoping to draw on her sister's strength as she recounted what she had learned, giving Clark her full attention.

"Clark, your parents and my father… they betrayed Alura. When mother and I got to the launch bay, Lara was about to get into the pod with you. Zor El and Jor El told Alura that Lara was going with you instead of me. The intention was for her to create a new Genesis Chamber to extract the Codex from you and create a new line of Kryptonians. They apparently thought I was too stupid to do it, or I wouldn't do it."

Kara saw the horrified looks on her parents' faces and could feel Alex tensing as she was suddenly wrapped securely in her sister's arms. Clark remained motionless, a stunned look on his face.

Kara took a couple of thought-clearing breaths before she continued, a small smile on her face when she remembered the fierceness her mother displayed as she rescued Kara from the planet's death throes and the hands of her wicked family. "Unfortunately for them, my mother was prepared for their betrayal. She pulled a gun from her cloak and shot Lara point blank, before shooting Jor El and Zor El. She never hesitated… she killed them and put me into the pod with you. I was supposed to forget that. She wanted me to forget and I told her I would."

Clark's eyes widened, and his mouth opened slightly.

"Wow." He finally said. "The House of El was more screwed up than the Skywalkers."

His expression softened as he looked at Kara. "Do you realize, if Lara would have come, I would probably have been stuck in some chamber in this Fortress my whole life while she took what she wanted? I would have been a prisoner, I wouldn't have my sisters, or my Mom and Dad. I would just be a living Codex."

The family saw Clark shiver at the thought and look around the Fortress with new eyes. Looking back at Kara, his voice broke as he reassured her in almost a whisper, tears sliding unchecked down his face. "You may be my cousin by birth, but you are my sister by choice… and you have always been my biggest supporter and fiercest protector. Lara didn't love me, Kara, but you did. Alura showed you how to love and I'm the one who benefited because you took care of me when we landed here… when it would have been so much easier on you if you'd left me."

"I love Alura." Eliza whispered and wrapped her son in her arms tightly, Jeremiah's arms surrounding both as he obviously struggled with his emotions.

Kara felt Alex shaking, heard her sniffling quietly. Kara's smiled as she basked in the love of her family and finished her story. "Mother told me I would have a decision to make and to make the right one. I think Zod was trying to stop us from launching but Alura held him off until we were gone."

"She made the right decision, Kara." Alex told her, her voice breaking also. "She protected family first and to hell with the rest of the world. Isn't that what we have always said we would do?"

Kara nodded in agreement. Yes, that had always been Alex and Kara's number one mandate. Family first.

"And you made the right decision," Alex assured her, "for Clark and for all of us. You could have done what Jor El's hologram told you, but you told him to go to hell."

Alex must have felt her sister's hesitation, so she reiterated, "You made the right decision, Kara, and so did Alura."

Pulling away from Alex so she could see her face clearly, Kara smiled sadly. "Yeah, she did, didn't she? Thank you, Alex. Now, I need to see Leslie. I need to make sure she is alright. I put her through literal hell. In a few days though, you have to send me back in, alone this time."

"No, Kara. You can't do this alone. I'm going with you." Alex's expression left no room for misinterpretation.

"Leslie said that is a bad idea." Jeremiah told his older daughter. "She said your experiences are too similar, that you can't be impartial, and you have your own traumas to deal with."

Alex shrugged her shoulders. "Leslie has been wrong before, you all have."

There was no mistaking Alex's meaning when she looked at Kara then stared pointedly at the other three in the room. "Leslie thought she could handle it and literally got scared to death. She wasn't prepared for this. I am. Kara and I have fought worse. Nothing is going to scare me. I won't let her go back alone so this is the only option."

"No, it isn't. I'll go with her." Jeremiah said quickly.

"No, you won't Dad." Kara told him immediately before Alex could say something she probably shouldn't. "You and Mom…I've put you both through hell and reliving it, knowing my feelings…I felt everything. I saw myself…as a young girl. Sometimes I was me and sometimes I was her, but I felt everything. Leslie did too. You can't see that. Mom has severe anxiety already. I don't want you to have a heart attack as well."

"I can go." Clark offered.

"No!" both Kara and Alex answered loudly enough that Clark flinched.

Jeremiah hated this. He was much younger and healthier than Leslie, not that Leslie was in bad health for her age, she was actually pretty fit. At least her heart had been. He looked towards his wife who met his eyes for a moment then went back to holding Clark and staring at Kara.

"If you go into her head Alex, she could see into yours as well." He threw that out knowing how much Alex hated anyone knowing her business, much less what was going on in her head.

The two girls looked at each other and to his surprise smiled.

"We have been in each other's head for the past 14 years." Kara admitted, smiling at her sister. "As much as I hate to say it, she is right. If I can't go alone, Alex is the only one who can go with me."

"And if she sees your memories, Alex?" Eliza asked, hoping to prevent what she feared could send both her daughters into a tailspin. "If she sees and feels what you have felt over the past year…"

"I want to see." Kara interrupted her. The blonde turned to her sister, placing a hand gently on her cheek. "No matter what, I need to know what our separation did to you, among other things. So are you sure?"

Alex leaned into her touch, relaxing for the first time since Leslie nearly died. "We go together. As you said, nothing good has ever come from us separating. We will face the past and we will beat it. Together always, right?"

Kara smiled wider. "Together always."

That decided, the two girls and Clark stood up.

"We need to make sure Leslie is okay. We are also probably going to need someone to talk to if she can't do it. I don't want her in danger anymore." Kara said, looking around. "After remembering Krypton, I am really tired of this red sunlight light. Somebody grab me a bracelet. We do this again in four days. For now, let's go to the hospital and then home. We need to be together, all of us, on the same page. In four days, Alex and I go into my mind. No matter what Bruce or Leslie says, this is happening. They are going to tell us it's a bad idea, but we stand strong, together, right?"

The parents and Clark looked at each other, wondering if Kara could heal or Alex would come out of this experience worse. The three did know one thing for sure. The two girls were always better together than alone. Always.

"We stand strong." Eliza assured them, looking straight at her oldest daughter who grinned despite herself at the approval. "I agree with Kara. Let's get out of here."


	12. Chapter 12

**Do not own DC or CW characters**

 **Chapter 12**

Kara walked into the hospital room with no small amount of trepidation, not sure exactly what condition she would find Leslie in and feeling the weight of guilt on her.

To her relief, Leslie looked better than she had expected. There were no wires running from her, no pale skin, just an IV and an EKG monitoring her.

"It's just precautionary." the doctor told her, seemingly not surprised to see the blonde. "I'm in no danger but until I can be released, they have to make sure the ticker can handle the real world. No lasting damage. Also, I don't want to hear any apologies from you. I made the decision and I would do it again."

Kara smiled sadly and moved to the lone chair in the room by Leslie's bed. "Why would you want to do that again? I wouldn't if I were you."

Leslie just shrugged her shoulders. "Because, it gave me an insight into you that I've never had before. It probably gave you a few insights as well. Kara, your mother went against every instinct hardwired into her DNA to save the one person she loved… you. She killed for you… to protect and save you."

Kara tilted her head, reflecting on Leslie's words, really thinking on that moment for the first time and how hard it should've been for her mother to go against her predispositions, beginning to realize how easily she did. Her mind began to process the truth in Leslie's words as the doctor continued. "Your mother reminds me of a woman who held a hundred-year-old rifle on a Martian and a special forces soldier when you were found. Sounds like a father I know who stood in front of a Kryptonian General to protect his wife and child, knowing he was probably going to die. Sounds like a sister who took out a secret organization, killed hundreds, to make sure there were no threats to her brother… the same girl who took on a Coluan so her little sister could concentrate on Non."

Uncharacteristically, Leslie put her hand out, lightly touching Kara's cheek. "She kinda reminds me of a blonde who would burn down the world to protect her family. One who, while under the influence of a rage inducing ring that turned her into a mindless monster, still stood over her big sister to protect her. It all started with Alura. She taught you how to love. Makes a lot of sense now."

Leslie dropped her hand, though her eyes watched as Kara worked through the doctor's revelations. Everything Leslie had stated made sense to the younger woman, but her quick mind latched onto only one statement.

Hundreds? Kara thought. Alex had killed hundreds? What was Leslie talking about? Before Kara asked, she decided now wasn't the time. She let the thought go, knowing she would get her answers when Alex was in her mind, seeing and feeling everything her sister did even as Alex helped her unlock her own memories.

"So, when are they going to let you out?" Kara asked.

"Three days if everything goes okay. I'll be recovering in your guest room, waiting for you to come out of your next session… waiting for both of you. Alex is going in with you, isn't she?"

Surprised and slightly startled at the doctor's low-key acceptance of that fact, Kara nodded warily. "Are you mad? You don't seem mad, but you told Dad it was a bad idea."

Leslie sighed. "It is, but there is no point in arguing. You two tend to do what you want. I never doubted she would be the one to go with you, I just hoped to find another way. Just like I never doubted you two were going to become involved in the Diasporan situation. I can't stop you, so I will be here to catch you both if you need it."

Kara wanted to assure her that they would be okay, but she couldn't. From what she understood, Alex had been in her mind before, even gone into the Red Ring with her. What concerned her now though was how she would react to seeing Alex's memories, how Alex herself would react to Kara knowing and feeling them. The sisters were too intertwined for Kara not to feel Alex's emotions and she secretly struggled with worry and doubts that she could bear the knowledge of what her actions truly did to her sister.

Shaking off those thoughts, she asked Leslie a question that had been prevalent in her mind.

"I put my family through hell. I know enough, I've seen the interviews, read the books. I tried to kill myself and I know what I must have put them through being an addict. How do I deal with the guilt? I don't know if I can."

Leslie closed her eyes for a moment. She knew a bit more about guilt than Kara might believe.

"You move past it. You understand that there is nothing you can do to change what has happened and you promise yourself to do better. I've had a hard time with it myself. I still do but I have made myself move past it. You are going to have to do the same. So is Alex. So are your parents."

Kara tensed. "They have nothing to feel guilty about."

Leslie smiled sadly. "Having done nothing to feel guilty about and still feeling guilt over things that were out of your control are two very different things. Do you realize, if Alex had seen you die, that Red Ring had every chance of coming to her?"

Kara froze in shock at Leslie's words. The doctor nodded before continuing. "You may not want to hear it, but it's true. She held off her own rage for years, focused on helping you contain yours. But with you gone...you will find out about her rage in the year you were away. I doubt she feels guilt over the people she killed, but she will feel like she failed you. Your family was very tight knit, incredibly close, the closest I had ever met, but your supposed death literally tore them apart. They all blame themselves. They all feel guilt."

Kara sat stunned, thinking on this for a moment. She had noticed the rift between her parents and Alex, even Clark was different. But Kara wanted what she had before. No rift, no guilt, only love and warmth. She craved it. She then noticed Leslie staring intently, obviously monitoring her reactions, maybe judging how far she could push the blonde.

Kara said, "You said you made yourself move on from your guilt. Can I ask...never mind. It's not my business."

Leslie knew Kara would be curious when she purposefully dangled that little tidbit in front of her. In all her time with Kara, Leslie never talked about herself, her own perceived failures. Perhaps now was the time.

"You have been dreaming of the Joker. You haven't dreamed about his ...girlfriend yet."

"That monster had a girlfriend?" Kara asked, not expecting that.

"She was my protégé. Her name was Harleen Quinzel. Harley was brilliant and had one of the keenest insights into the criminal mind I had ever run across. She conducted numerous sessions with the worst of Arkham Asylum with my permission. She spoke to Harvey Dent, Edward Nygma, Cobblepot, even spoke a couple times to Jonathan Crane. She held her own and the observations she made were a testament to her brilliance. But there was one person, one monster I never let her speak to. No doctor could help him. He was too far gone, perhaps he had been born that way. A true manifestation of chaotic evil."

"The Joker." Kara said, an involuntary shiver running through her, remembering her conversation with the man.

Leslie nodded slightly, and her eyes seemed far away, lost in the past. "She begged me for time with him. He was the ultimate goal of every criminal psychiatrist. If you could figure out what made the Joker tick, you would make history. Harley was too young, and despite her successful studies of the other inmates, I didn't feel she was ready to face that. But she pleaded with me and I gave in. I told her she could have five sessions. I thought she would realize that he was unbreakable, he had no humanity in him so finding a rational explanation for his actions was impossible."

"He broke her." Kara said quietly. Leslie didn't answer and didn't have to. Kara saw it in her eyes, eyes that were quickly turning red and moist.

"She began on a Monday and ended on a Friday. On Saturday, she helped him escape. He turned her from a brilliant academic into a monster in five days. She became his lover, turned into a completely different person, and began to murder as many people as he did, sometimes by his side and sometimes on her own. You stopped her twice and Alex stopped her once. Bruce caught her many times but every trip to Arkham, every attempt I had to reach her, to find the girl I once knew, was thwarted by escapes. Her and the Joker...regardless, that was on me. Every life she took, every life he took because she helped him escape, I felt that was on me. If I had never let her meet him, gave him the opportunity to get into her mind, she never would have turned into Harley Quinn. I live with that every day."

Kara took that in for a moment, understanding. Her first thought was to tell Leslie it wasn't her fault, but a big part of Kara knew and understood what Leslie had meant. Being guilty and feeling guilty were two very different things. No matter what Kara told her, Leslie would always feel guilt over her former protégé.

"You said you forced yourself to move on." the blonde finally said.

Leslie nodded her head, meeting Kara's eyes. "What happened is in the past. Perhaps it was my fault, but it was her fault as well. It was the Joker's fault, it was Arkham's fault for having the shittiest security system in the world. But all that blame doesn't matter. I made myself move on. I tried to do better, be better. What happened with Harley is a big reason why I refused to let you fall into madness. I couldn't take another loss. I still can't. But that is the thing, Kara. Stuff happens, whether in our control or not but what's done is done. If you and your family ever truly want to heal, you are all going to have to accept that. Hanging on to the past, the darkness, will only set you up for failure and never give you peace."

Leslie shifted on the bed slightly, reaching over to the younger woman and tapping her lightly under her chin, causing Kara's attention to be fully locked on the doctor. "Kara, you did so many good things in this world. You saved thousands, hell you and your team of misfits saved every human life when you stopped Myriad. But you also did some bad things. That's what you will see. You are most likely going to feel your sister's emotions and that will make you feel guiltier. All you can do if you want to heal is accept the past and try to be better in the future. The same goes for your whole family."

Kara snorted and looked at the floor, not wanting to meet Leslie's eyes. "You make it sound so easy."

"It will be harder and hurt worse than fighting Doomsday." Leslie told her. She hesitated briefly before adding, "It will hurt worse than killing your Aunt."

Kara winced, a sharp pain suddenly striking her heart. The blonde knew she had stopped Astra, but no one had outright said it. Kara knew though. She knew she killed Astra. There was no other way it could have gone.

"Be strong, Kara. You can do this. I'll be waiting for both of you when you get done. When are you going back in?" The understanding in Leslie's voice helped ease the pain.

"Four days. We need some family time away from the Fortress. I want to stargaze with Dad and walk in the wild with Mom. I want to relax with my family while watching my brother's baseball game. I want to spend time with Alex on our beach and make sure she is prepared for our trip into my mind."

Leslie shook her head. "Neither of you can be prepared. I thought I was, and you see how that turned out. You just have to survive. One thing you must consider is when you remember, not only the events but your emotions, you are going to want a drink worse than you ever have in your life. Your mind may be perfect now, but it was also in perfect shape before you started drinking. You are going to fight addiction the rest of your life. These are things you need to think about. Let your family help you, they are your greatest strength, not your super powers. And I'll be there for all of you. I won't fail your family, not the way I failed Harley."

Kara smiled at Leslie's declaration, instinctively knowing the woman was very capable of fulfilling that promise. She had no words that could adequately thank her, so Kara leaned over and kissed the woman on the cheek, her thanks conveyed in her eyes as she stood and walked out.

She knew Alex was waiting for her in the cafeteria, hopefully with food Kara could consume in seconds. The two would then drive to the Hanger and be back in Midvale in minutes. It was time for Clark to go back to school and despite his protests, Kara telling him she wanted to see him play ball tonight won him over. To make things a little more palatable for the boy, her parents begrudgingly agreed to go back to work leaving her and Alex to check in on Leslie.

As Kara made the turn for the elevator, she nearly walked into Bruce Wayne. The two stared at each other for a moment, Bruce in shock at seeing her in person and Kara taking in his face before she was lost in the past.

" _You knew! You knew he was responsible for the Children's Hospital bombing and you didn't kill him!" she had screamed in the Batcave. The girl had read over the GCPD case file of the Joker for the first time tonight while she and her partner in black tried to track the recently escaped mad man._

 _Alex was standing behind her, hand resting on her back attempting to keep her somewhat calm, but Kara's anger and focus were on the Batman._

" _We don't kill people that can be contained. That was our agreement." Batman reminded her from across the cave._

" _Contained?!" Her voice reverberating loudly across the expanse of the cave. "He can't be contained! How many times will you let him escape? Every murder he commits is on you now! You weren't there! I was! You didn't see the dead children, burnt beyond recognition, or the firefighters who were burned and bleeding! The nurses and doctors and parents, all the bodies after the initial explosion, you never saw any of it! Maybe if you did, you would understand that he isn't human and cannot be contained! When I find him, I will end him! If you want him alive so you can have more deaths on your conscious, then try to get to him before I do!"_

" _Kara," Bruce had tried to reason. "The GCPD expects him to be caught alive to stand trial. If you kill him, they would brand you a murderer and never trust you again!"_

 _Kara was trembling in rage, her fury not lessening at all. "You think I give a damn what an ineffectual police department that needs a vigilante to clean up their mess thinks? You think I trust them? Most of the are on some mob's payroll. You think I give a damn what you think? I protect human lives and if killing one monster saves hundreds of lives, I will do it! That's the difference in us, Bruce! I am willing to do what needs to be done, what you don't have the stomach to do. Have fun trying to beat me to him without your car!"_

 _Kara had the Batmobile over her head before Bruce could register what she was doing. He did have the foresight to jump away as the car flew directly at him, crashing into the cave wall._

Kara shook her head, desperately trying to avoid the memories seeing this man immediately brought to her mind. Closing her eyes and forcing herself to control her breathing, another memory emerged as she fought to keep from having a panic attack.

" _What are you doing here?" Bruce had asked, standing in an alley where he had lain flowers on the ground._

 _Kara walked beside him staring at the white roses on the ground. "Alfred told me where to find you. I knew what day this was and wanted to check on you. I know what it's like to lose... I'll go. I didn't mean to intrude."_

 _The blonde began walking away until Bruce Wayne grabbed for her hand. "Kara, I'd really like it if you stayed."_

 _Kara nodded and stood beside him, holding his hand gently with her eyes closed and head bowed reverently. The pair stayed there for fifteen minutes without moving._

" _Thank you for being here." Bruce said softly, breaking the comfortable silence._

 _Kara hugged the man gently. "You're my friend. That's what friends do, right? Be there for each other in the tough times? I know you will always be there for me if I need you."_

" _Always." Bruce told her and the two began the walk to his car. No one noticed the richest man in the world in an expensive suit nor the brunette wearing glasses as they drove off._

This memory settled her. Feeling in control again, she looked up, opening her eyes. Bruce was still there.

Kara smiled and reached out for her friend. "I missed you."

An explosive breath burst from the man as he grabbed her tightly with every bit of strength he possessed and held on. It was obvious to Kara that he had not expected to see her here. She knew he was trying to honor Leslie's directive to stay away from her until the doctor told him otherwise.

"I missed you, too." he whispered, slowly releasing her though obviously struggling to do so after believing her dead.

Kara stepped back and cleared her throat. " 'How have you been' seems like a weird question to ask right now but what about this situation isn't weird? I've missed a lot the past year and forgotten a lot of my past as I am sure you have heard. What I do remember gave Leslie a heart attack. Knowing what you know, having lived through some of this with me, if I told you I would remember, be who I used to be… would that make you happy or sad?"

Bruce closed his eyes, having thought of this often since he learned of Kara's memory loss. "I've seen you at your best and worst. You've seen me at my best and worst. Both are part of us… both make us who we are. So, I guess I would be happy and sad, but no matter what, we were friends. That's all I care about right now. I have my friend back."

He paused briefly before continuing, "I also know Alex won't let anyone but herself accompany you as you unlock those memories. I wish I could help you. But the chances of my darkness and yours mixing..."

"Is more than one person could handle." Kara finished his thought. A sudden smirk appeared on her face. "But look at the bright side. Maybe we could run around Gotham in blue and red bat suits together."

Bruce was so surprised he let out a laugh. He had not seen Kara Danvers, glasses, chestnut hair and green eyes, making a joke in a long time. He had never seen the smile on her face she had now. The man was worried about what her recent excursion did to her, considering what it did to Leslie, but Kara had a spark in her eye he had not seen in a very long time, if ever.

Kara said, "I need to go. Alex is getting me food and doesn't like me out of her sight for long. Once I have a few cheeseburgers, we are going to Midvale. When this is over, come see me. Promise?"

Bruce nodded and patted her shoulder. "I will. Now, promise me, no matter what, when these powers are dimmed enough...promise you are quitting this time and mean it."

Kara reached out to bring him into a hug as she turned her head to whisper in his ear. "Supergirl is gone. The world is going to have to wait a while for Superman. Until then it has you and J'onn. If you two get into trouble you can't handle, I'm sure Lobo would love to stop by and lend a hand. I want to see him soon, so I'll tell him to keep an ear out for you."

Bruce chuckled as he stepped back. "I think I can handle it on my own. Thanks for the offer though. Now go. Alex doesn't need any more stress."

 **Metropolis**

Brainy sat at a computer terminal in the Metropolis Metropolitan Library, Lar and Garth on each of his sides watching YouTube videos.

"This is a waste of time. You have copies of all of Supergirl's fights on video in the future." Garth pointed out. "Besides I have a better idea. Let's go to Gotham City."

"No." Brainy told him quickly.

"Yes." Lar argued. "We shine that spotlight on Gotham City PD's roof, wait for him to come, explain our problem and ask him to contact this human. He may even have access to this Fortress."

"No." Brainy said once again. "Batman will tell us nothing. He may even attack us."

Garth shrugged his shoulders. "Let him. If he doesn't want to talk, we make him talk. I'm betting a couple thousand watts would loosen his tongue."

"We aren't going to torture anyone, Garth." Lar told him quickly. "That's not what we do."

Garth stood up and turned from them. "I know we don't do that, but our worlds are all at stake. If we can't get him to listen to reason, we need to do whatever it takes to get information. I'm not saying we kill the guy but searching this archaic video archive is getting us nowhere."

"I have considered contacting Batman." Brainy told him. "However, from what I know of the man, the probability of him telling us anything voluntarily is 0%. The probability of him talking under duress, even extreme torture is 0%. The probability of him injuring us, perhaps even defeating us, is 42.63%. The man has Kryptonian technology, an in-depth knowledge of aliens, is a skilled tactician and warrior and could formulate a plan to incapacity us quickly. We may be more technically advanced our time period, but we are here now. Contacting him could be as devastating as attempting to contact Lobo."

"So, what are you looking for, Brainy?" Lar asked, not liking the idea of torture even to defeat Brainiac 13. He also knew not to bet against the odds when it came to Brainy and the Batman plan definitely sounded bad.

"Raw footage," the Coluan replied. "There are millions of videos on the internet, not all archived. Despite the Department of Extranormal Operations' best efforts, there are still videos of them in action with Supergirl. If I could have a moment to sort through this unorganized waste bin of knowledge, I will have what I need."

A few minutes went by, Garth bringing back coffee for him and Lar, before Brainy let out a breath.

"Yes. There she is."

The three men looked at a video obviously taken by a cell phone from a block away, watching a battle.

Then the video focused in and the three saw Supergirl fighting what appeared to be Tamaranean soldiers. They had her surrounded as she stood in front of a female Tamaranean lying on the street. Supergirl's eyes were glowing, her heat vision blasts countering the Star bolt blasts from the Tamaraneans.

Brainy began explaining the context of what they were viewing. "The woman on the ground is Koriand'r. She is known as Starfire, founding member of the Titans. She was sold into slavery by her sister but escaped, crashing on Earth, in the middle of National City. Her captors, traitors to her throne, followed in an attempt to reclaim her. Supergirl stopped them, but as we know, these aliens are incredibly powerful. Watch what happens."

The men did watch closely. Supergirl was surrounded by dozens of enemies, hitting several with heat vision. The aliens still stood tall and returned fire from every direction. The blonde hero changed tactics and moved towards them in a circle, hitting them hard enough to knock them out and shatter the windows of the buildings around the fight.

There were two left.

"I can't believe how she looks. I knew she had anger management problems, but she looks savage." Lar mumbled.

A female Tamaranean stood and fired a bolt at the blonde's head only for Supergirl to deflect it with her hand and begin stalking towards her prey.

Another alien appeared behind Supergirl and raised his hand to strike her from behind. That is until a female figure, dressed all in black wearing a tactical helmet, ran into the scene with a rifle that was definitely not made for human law enforcement. The figure fired, striking the man in the head and dropping him. She then took up position behind Supergirl, keeping her eyes on the fallen enemies as Supergirl broke her female foe's wrists.

The scene was rushed by federal officers, posing as FBI, but history later identified them as DEO agents.

"Watch the woman who rushed to Supergirl's side first." Brainy pointed out to his two friends. "She is an agent of the DEO, but her build, as well as her short brunette hair matches her to the photos of Manhunter."

"And she isn't in her Kryptonian garb." Garth realized. "You are telling me when this girl wasn't out fighting crime as Supergirl's partner, she was a DEO agent?"

"Exactly. It is well known that Supergirl and Superman were cared for by humans from a young age. This agent possessed an alien weapon, similar to the ones Manhunter carried. Notice how she stayed by Supergirl watching her fallen enemies while Supergirl took down the last attacker. And see this? Notice how she is touching Supergirl's cheek, looking at a bruise and most likely asking if she is okay. That speaks of a closeness, a trust on Supergirl's part that you wouldn't expect her to have for a normal agent, but you would if our mystery figure is her crime fighting partner. I can surmise that our lady in black is likely an adopted sister or close friend. Now we know she works for the DEO or at least she did."

"So? That has always been a theory." Garth pointed out.

"That she worked there, yes, but no one ever thought she might be an agent. I have no doubt the DEO erased her existence, but I would think some of the DEO higher ups probably knew Supergirl's civilian identity and who this girl was, too." Lar speculated. "We need to get into the DEO."

Brainy shook his head. "No. I need access to the National City headquarters location. I suspect video of her or any agent inside the building was kept on their server, but at this point in time, there are cameras everywhere. For tracking our mystery woman, I am most interested in street cameras. I can hack into the Department of Transportation's network and review stored camera footage around the date of this video, look for females of her height, build and hair, entering and exiting the building, perhaps getting lunch nearby at local shops. Once I can get a clear shot of her face, I will be able to identify her."

"Supergirl worked for years without a mask and no one was ever able to identify her." Garth pointed out. "You told me once you thought she had an extremely powerful supercomputer that prevented facial recognition. You really think, if this woman is her sister, Supergirl doesn't have her covered? If your theory is true, the minute we start a digital search for her name, we are going to be blocked, maybe tracked."

Brainy smiled brightly. "Exactly. We won't be searching for her name though, only her face on local street cams. Once we identify her face, I will run a facial recognition search of the Department of Motor Vehicles. Her name will be revealed without us raising a red flag that could alert a Kryptonian Supercomputer. Everyone, even Superheroes, need driver's licenses in this time period. If anyone has ever had a driver's license in any state, a copy is maintained. So, if this mystery woman worked for the DEO under a civilian guise, she must have had a license at California's DOT. I also want to visit another place. Most large and even some smaller cities had a tavern that catered to Aliens. I want to speak to people at this bar. When this female eradicated Cadmus, she released aliens. If I could speak to someone who may have seen her, it will be beneficial."

Lar voiced a concern that they all shared. "What if we find her and she doesn't give a damn? What if she won't help us?"

Brainy had a simple answer to that. "I believe people in this time period used the phrase 'we are screwed'. If she says no, then… we are screwed. For now, all we can do is wait for sundown and fly to National City.

 **The Fortress, three days later**

Alex and Kara lay side by side, holding hands, on an uncomfortable crystal bench with small crystals strapped to their foreheads and a larger one between them. Alex refused any IVs or EKG leads. She did not feel the need to be monitored. Whatever was in her sister's head was most likely something she lived through and Alex gave no thought to having the possibility of having a heart attack. Only the crystals would monitor Alex and Kara's brainwaves.

Kelex placed a crystal band on Kara just above the crystal on her forehead. Eliza gave Alex a low dosage sedative pill. This would only be a test run of twenty minutes.

Once Kara and Alex were both in a relaxed state, the band was removed from Kara's forehead and the four remaining family members waited for Alex's brainwaves to match Kara's.

Eliza watched the screen carefully. Her youngest daughter's brain activity was something she was very familiar with, but she had never seen her oldest daughter's. The representation of Alex's mind shown through the complexities and colorations of the crystals was simply breathtaking. Her daughter truly had a beautiful mind.

While she waited, Eliza thought back over the past couple of days and how wonderful they had been. Kara seemed to be in a great mood as did Alex. Clark went back to school, played a baseball game and appeared for once in a very long time to have enjoyed himself. Eliza knew hearing Kara and Alex cheer him loudly played a huge part of that.

The family had eaten together and hung out in both houses, watched movies, and just relaxed. Kara had many great memories of the beach and the five spent a lot of time there. Kara wore a red crystal around her wrist and one around her ankle. Alex monitored her solar radiation count every evening. While the decrease had slowed considerably due to Kara's need to feel sunrays on her body, they were still dropping.

To top the last few days off, Leslie had been released from the hospital earlier today and was resting in the girl's guest room, waiting for them to emerge.

Eliza reflected on those moments as she watched Alex's brainwaves begin to change as expected. Leslie's brain activity showed the Danvers that the process took about five minutes. Once Alex's brainwaves matched Kara's, the two would be in what Kara dubbed her 'haunted dream home'.

As they watched Alex's brainwaves continue to change, Eliza noticed, to her great concern, Kara's begin to change as well.

"That's not supposed to happen. It didn't happen last time..." Jeremiah voiced Eliza's concern. "Kelex, what is going on?"

The AI said nothing, watching the screen carefully.

"Kelex talk to us." Eliza demanded.

"As they entered a dream state, Alex's waves began matching Kara's, but now it appears the two are mixing, merging into one consciousness. Their minds are now fully connected. Alex will not be a passenger as Leslie was. They are both completely open to all their memories. This was not supposed to happen. The crystals should have prevented Kara's brainwaves from moving to match Alex's. During the Black Mercy incident, Alex was able to hold onto herself in Kara's mind and keep herself impartial. I'm not sure what will happen this time." For all that he replied to them in a straightforward tone, Kelex's movements when he began adjusting the program settings appeared uncharacteristically shaky.

"Then pull them out!" Clark ordered loudly.

"I cannot do so." Kelex told him. "Given they now share a combined consciousness, disconnecting the crystal would injure them. They must return to their own selves. Until then we can do nothing but wait."

Eliza grabbed her head and closed her eyes, her headache getting worse by the second along with her fear. Already knowing the answer, she asked, "You are telling me there is no safe way to pull them out of this?"

"No, they are on their own. All we can do is wait." Kelex confirmed. "They will have to sort through their own memories, their own emotions. Until their brainwaves no longer match, there is nothing we can do but watch and hope for the best."


	13. Chapter 13

**Do not own DC or CW characters,**

 **Chapter 13**

Alex slowly came to herself, noting the feel of a cool breeze blowing off the ocean, smelling the salt in the air. Smiling, she opened her eyes and took in the familiar surroundings, not surprised that Kara's mind would take them to Midvale. She stood on the bluff outside her parents' home trying to place the memory but not having anything to go on. Judging by the sun's elevation, the nip in the air and the green vegetation, it was an early summer morning. Looking around, she couldn't see Kara, but she knew she was close.

Moving towards the front porch of her childhood home, Alex was startled to hear her mother's voice calling out from within as a young girl stomped out the front door, determination in every step. Alex watched in fascination as her younger self muttered under her breath while moving purposefully towards the path along the bluff leading to where Kara and Alex's house now stood.

"You know, I'm not sure this is one of my memories." Alex jumped, twisting around as Kara was suddenly standing next to her, an impish grin on her face. "Sorry, didn't mean to startle you."

Alex rolled her eyes in disbelief, while reaching out to grasp her sister's hand. "I was just trying to figure out _when_ we were, when I saw little me... although I don't know why you aren't with me. We were always together."

Kara pulled at Alex and they began walking the path behind the grumbling young Alex. "Yes, we were. That's one reason why I don't think this memory is mine. Another is I can make out what your little self is complaining about… the bird-watching project your mom gave you the day we met. You are not at all happy about wasting your time in the woods when you can be playing on the beach."

Alex slowed her pace at the realization Kara was probably right, but the ramifications were troubling. "Kara, we aren't supposed to be in my mind, we're supposed to be in yours. How can this be happening?"

Kara matched her pace with Alex while reassuring her sister, obviously hoping to calm her, all while keeping little Alex in view. "I have a theory, but let's test this first. To some extent, I was able to control what I was seeing in my mind when I was under with Leslie. That's how I uncovered the repressed memory of my mother killing my father, aunt and uncle. If this is your memory, you should be able to do the same thing."

Thinking over what her sister was saying, Alex really wasn't troubled that Kara was sharing her mind, but she wondered how it could happen when Kelex was controlling the crystals and matching their brainwaves. Concentrating, she mentally ordered her younger self to stop, essentially freezing the scene like hitting pause on a movie. Not only did her younger self stop, every movement surrounding them ceased as well.

"Yep… your memory." Kara said, sighing, lightly squeezing Alex's hand. "I can tell you're frustrated, but let's just go with it and see what happens."

Alex turned to Kara, worried over this unforeseen turn of events. "This doesn't concern you? We're supposed to be unlocking your memories, not mine. My memories aren't locked."

Kara's expression relaxed, a small smile forming as she said, "Maybe they are and you don't realize it. Or maybe this isn't only about unlocking my memories, but about us, you and me."

Kara's smile grew, her eyes sparkling in the light of this remembered morning as she continued. "As to how it happened, our minds have merged. Like everything else where the two of us are concerned, we're stronger together so our connection linked our consciousnesses. There is a reason you brought us here, why we came here first. We need to let the memory play out to discover what it is."

Alex absorbed everything her sister believed, and it made so much sense. It both thrilled her and scared her to death. "You knew this would happen?"

Kara laughed. "No dork, but I'm not surprised really. We never did things the way we were supposed to, much to Mom and Dad's dismay. They're probably freaking out right now, but it can't be helped."

Alex chucked, agreeing with that assessment. "Well, you're probably right about that. They'll just have to get over it, nothing much we can do about it now."

She looked back at her younger self, realizing something as she mentally released the memory to continue. "Kara, this memory… this memory represents the beginning, our beginning. That has to mean something, I just don't know what."

She continued speaking quietly as she walked by Kara's side reflecting on the memory she now knew this to be. "One thing I do know… this day represents one of the best memories I have because it's the day you came into my life, you and Clark."

Kara squeezed her hand again, obviously more relaxed than Alex judging by the look of contentment on her face. Alex hoped that look remained but knew it wouldn't when they began unlocking Kara's suppressed memories.

The two walked side-by-side, easily keeping pace with the young girl, when she suddenly stopped, gazing intently toward the trees that opened onto the beach. Easing up behind the girl, the sisters watched a blonde child carrying a bright red bundle move toward the beach area through the trees. Alex heard Kara's breath hitch as she realized her sister was seeing herself through Alex's eyes.

A jolt shot through Alex as she watched her younger self begin to move unerringly toward the bedraggled waif. The pull was strong as the girl stopped moving again, starring at the blonde while the girl searched around the mouth of the cave.

As she and Kara stood beside her younger self, time seemed to slow as a warmth spread throughout her body, causing her to shudder. Her younger self stood unmoving, transfixed on the two figures below. The girl's next words left her soul electrified as she heard herself whisper, "There you are…"

Alex was confused, she couldn't recall this happening. She began to be overwhelmed by the emotions rolling off her younger self, when she felt Kara stiffen at her side.

"Alex…" Kara began before she started to tremble, gripping her sister's hand tighter.

Alex watched through squinted eyes as her younger self moved towards the cave entrance the blonde had entered when the scene slowly faded out, shifting again…

The two abruptly found themselves in their parents' kitchen, young Alex sitting in a chair, staring at nothing, playing with her cereal. The youngster's face was blotchy and red, her eyes hollow, the sorrow palatable as it poured out of her, making Alex's soul ache.

Kara spoke softly, still shaking slightly, but it was obvious to Alex that her younger self's misery was distressing her sister. "You were in such pain. I can feel it… what's happening here?"

"This is three days after you ran from me, after I told you Mom and Dad discovered I'd been hiding you two. They wouldn't listen to me then either. I told them you would run, and you did. I was pretty messed up as you can see. I was missing you… so, so much." Alex explained, her heart also aching in tune with her younger self.

Suddenly, the door flew open as a much younger Jeremiah came flying in, pulling little Alex from her chair. "Alex! Come here… umm, come with me! Please… Come now!"

The confusion and anger on young Alex's face was evident, even as she tried to pull away from her Dad who was dragging her out of her chair. Jeremiah refused, gripping her around the shoulders and propelling her out the door onto the porch. The two sisters followed them out to see Eliza talking with a filthy, beaten down blonde who entire demeanor brightened significantly, tears welling up in her eyes as she zeroed in on the only person who had shown her kindness, the one person she trusted.

Young Alex bolted from the porch, running towards the young blonde and wrapped her small arms around the smaller girl and baby. Both girls were crying as the parents looked on in obvious disbelief.

Alex explained. "I think this is the point where Mom and Dad realized I wasn't lying or pretending about how much I needed you, how important you were to me. I barely talked to them after you ran off. I couldn't eat, couldn't sleep, barely left my room. They were so worried about me they took those days off. This was the first day they were going back to work, and the only reason they agreed to was I ate some breakfast and told them to leave me. I didn't want them around… their hovering was starting to really annoy me."

Not wanting to be too judgmental, Alex continued. "I don't know that I ever told you, but they were so apologetic, Dad was beating himself up over how he handled things, how he pushed me to go back to you that night. He was so worried about the two of you out there on your own. Mom was constantly trying to get me to cheer up, knowing nothing she was saying was going to work."

Kara put her arm around Alex, pulling her sister in close. "No matter what I told myself after I ran, wanting to keep you and your family safe, my feet kept bringing me back to you. I remember how relieved I was when I saw you again, even though I knew how much danger I was putting your family in. I told myself I would do whatever it took to protect your family, just like I had sworn to protect Clark."

Alex looked affectionately at her sister, seeing Kara's eyes shining bright with the love she had for her found family. "Alex, these are your memories, I'm feeling what you are in this moment. I feel the same, I always have whether I've shown it or not. I just… I have this feeling that I haven't been the best sister to you and let you down… not from what I've read and discovered about my life, it's something I know deep down. Mom, Dad, even Clark, I love them more than I could ever put into words. But you are the one who was always there for me, you are the reason I came back. In this moment, at this place in time, you called me back whether you knew it or not… the same way you called out to me across the void of space and I heard you. You are so much more than my sister… you are my home."

Alex engulfed her sister in what amounted to a bone-breaking hug in their dreamscape. "You are mine too."

As the two stood comfortably resting in their bond, the landscape of their minds shifted yet again.

"Not this," Kara whispered, "I don't want to remember this."

She was looking at her younger self by a road. She had just run towards the sound of the crash, only running as fast as humanly possible.

Kara looked inside the car then glanced to her right due the sound of electricity on pavement, the sound of gas leaking from the vehicle pouring onto the ground, a stream moving towards the downed powerline.

"Stay back, Kara." a younger Alex said. "We don't know what electricity can do to you."

Alex had told her no, but young Kara was focused on the mother inside the car trying to reach her baby.

"There was a baby inside." Kara whispered, watching her younger self along with Alex, looking towards the car.

Kara and Alex flinched, seeing and hearing the explosion, young Kara, grabbing Alex and throwing her to the ground, covering her older sister with her body, protecting her from flying metal and flames.

The older blonde watched as her younger self stared at the wreck and was shocked by the guilt she felt.

"I feel your guilt, Kara, but you have absolutely nothing to be guilty about." Alex told her. "Look at it from my eyes, Kara…look at my memory."

Kara did. She saw Alex watching her younger self run to the car, Alex holding her back, the fear Alex felt, not only at what she was seeing but worried for her, afraid she would try and pick up the powerline.

Then blind terror only seconds later, a brief glimpse of metal flying towards her, finding herself under Kara, her head slammed against the pavement.

"It happened too fast." Kara whispered.

Alex nodded. "Now you understand. You couldn't have gotten them out without killing them. The electricity would have gone right through you. It took less than five seconds from the time the gas was ignited to the explosion. To you it may have seemed like an eternity, but it was only five seconds. No one, not even you, could have saved them. Look at her, look at the girl who just saved my life. Feel the guilt she is feeling."

"Of course, I feel the guilt. I feel everything." Kara whispered.

"But do you think that little girl deserves this?" Alex asked. "Do you really think there was anything you could have done? Look at her, Kara, she doesn't deserve this guilt. Tell her what she could have done. Tell her she was wrong. What would you have done? Was she really that fast? Did she really have enough control to open that door and remove two humans who were strapped inside without killing them anyway? Should she have touched the powerline, not knowing what it would do? Could she have really stopped this? Less than five seconds, Kara."

Alex put her hand on Kara's cheek, gently turning her head towards her to ensure she had Kara's attention. "All I remember is worry and then fear, but I felt safe when you covered me. But the guilt? Is that something she should have to feel? Look at her. Look at her broken face. Go to her, tell her it's all her fault. Tell her she was a god and had control over everything. Tell her she let that woman and child die."

The scene changed , the view shifting to a graveyard, the little blonde girl sitting on a stone bench watching a funeral at the bottom of the hill.

Kara moved towards the blonde child and had a seat next to her, putting her arm around the small shoulders.

"It wasn't your fault." Kara whispered to the child who had tears shimmering in her bright blue eyes.

"I could have stopped it. Death follows me everywhere and I do nothing." The young girl told her.

Kara shook her head. "We aren't gods, there was no way we had enough control, or even speed to stop this from happening. It wasn't your fault."

"We have great power. Mother told us that." The girl continued to stare at the coffins as tears fell unchecked down her cheeks.

"Our power doesn't matter. We are still subject to the laws of physics. There's nothing you could have done. It happened too quickly. You must let it go. You can't forgive yourself, because there is nothing to forgive. You did the one thing you could that was in your control… you saved Alex. And one day… one day you are going to save a lot of people, but some...some can't be saved. I know it hurts, I can feel the pain inside you, but you must let it go. It's not your fault, it never was."

The girl looked once more at the funeral below, watching the tears of the loved ones, the woman's husband, the baby's father.

"Why did you come here?" Kara asked her younger self.

"If I stay, maybe Dad...Jeremiah or Eliza will come with Alex. Maybe they will come take me home. I don't want them to send me away. I'm sure they think I could have stopped this. I failed. Maybe they don't want me anymore."

"Look." Kara pointed to Jeremiah walking towards the bench.

"He loves you. They all do. Alex is sick with worry at home, thinking you have run. I can feel her. So can you, right? They know there was nothing you could do. This isn't on you. We let this moment define us… but no more, you need to move on, we both do. Kara, you have to let it go."

"How?" her younger self asked.

Kara was not sure. She obviously hadn't let it go her entire life. "What happened was meant to be. They are together, at peace. You didn't kill them, Kara. No one did. Everyone dies… even us. You did nothing wrong. You have to let it go."

Kara stepped back and watched the small girl being lifted in Jeremiah's arms and wavered a bit at the feeling. She felt safe, loved, wanted.

"We have always wanted you. Did you really think I wouldn't want you?" Alex asked her, tears glistening in her eyes.

Kara shook her head. "I was...I felt like I let down another father, let down my mother. I never wanted to be around death, but I couldn't stop it. I see now though…it really wasn't my fault."

"You saved me, though." Alex told her. "If you had never come into my life, I would have still been on that beach, trying to impress people who didn't matter, looking to belong somewhere to fill that place in my heart that only you could. I would have died. That car door was coming straight for my head. Instead, it hit your back. You saved me."

"I guess I did." Kara admitted. "It wasn't my fault at all, was it?"

Alex smiled brightly, knowing much of a breakthrough it was for Kara to truly admit that. "No… and I'm so happy that you finally see it."

Still smiling, she noticed they were no longer in the graveyard. "Huh. Wonder where our minds will take us next."

In answer to that question, the sisters found themselves in the Hangar in Raleigh. They arrived at the point where a furious young Kara was standing over and screaming at a sprawling J'onn, little Alex running towards her, reaching out and calming her down.

As their younger selves made their way to the Hanger door, Alex remarked, "You were so angry with him. You wanted him to train you to fight, but he wasn't going to because he was afraid you'd go after Non and Astra. Two days later, it became very real to me and you just how badly we needed to learn."

Kara sighed, still shaken somewhat by reliving the car crash. "So, what happened? He obviously changed his mind."

"No, he didn't." Alex said, inwardly sighing as she recalled the memory she knew they needed to face next. "But what happened gave us the ammunition to convince the guys to train us on the down low… although now that I think about it, we blackmailed Connolly using your insane ability to cry on command. Then Jess somehow convinced Mom and Dad to let us learn to fight so at least we didn't have to lie to them...well, mostly. Anyway, J'onn wasn't told even though he admitted to Dad years later he knew they were doing it."

She looked around the now empty cavernous room, her focus settling on the Hanger door. "I'll show you, but first… are you okay? Do we need to slow down, maybe play through a happy memory? Or something?"

"I'm ok." Kara said, her voice stronger now, reaching for her sister's hand. "Let's do this."

Holding on to each other, they stepped through the door to find themselves alongside the tree line in their parents' backyard. They watched closely as their younger selves walked up the path towards the house from the beach. The sun had set a few minutes ago and dusk was quickly turning into night.

"This is the moment it all became real, the danger, the need to hide, to learn to fight." Alex told her sister as the youngsters abruptly stopped, younger Kara rigid, tension almost visibly rolling off her. Movement in the trees rooted the older Danvers in place as they watched the scene unfold.

Young Kara was screaming at Alex to run, Alex refusing when the two were surrounded by Henshaw's men. Intense anger and fear hit the two spectators... young Alex was shaking in fury while her sister, fidgeted, resigned at their predicament. Seeing Henshaw walk out of their house, the swagger in his steps made Alex angry all over again.

Kara whispered, even though there was no need. "This really happened, Alex? My worst nightmare? This… my fears of someone coming to take you all away from me, or using you to get to me, maybe even killing you… this happened? Why am I just standing there …? I don't understand. All I feel is right now is anger, but I don't really look angry, just upset."

"That's because this isn't your memory, it's mine. That's my anger you're feeling right now… you were resigned to the fact something like this was bound to happen, so you were trying to figure out how to get them to only take you while leaving the rest of us alone. You were afraid for us, not yourself. Place yourself for a moment in your memory." Alex told her, knowing by the extreme look of guilt Kara had done so. "I don't want you to feel guilty, that was something no one could ever convince you of, that none of this was your fault. I want you to come back into my memory and see this unfold from my perspective."

Alex placed her hand on Kara's arm to help her settle. When she felt her sister relax slightly, Alex said, "Keep watching. It's about to get brutal."

As the two watched Henshaw roughly cuffing young Kara's wrists behind her, the anger transformed into fear, but under the fear burned a deep, all-consuming rage. From the pained look on her sister's face, she knew Kara was feeling everything little Alex was. Alex focused back on the scene, recalling this as the moment she lost her innocence, facing true horrors as the reality of her life irrevocably changed forever.

They heard Henshaw telling Kara she was going to tell him everything, that she was now his… right before the agent standing nearest him suffered extreme blood loss from the hole in his torso spurting all over Henshaw's face and clothes. Screams were heard coming from the house as two more agents lost their heads. Little Alex exploded into action, trying to pull little Kara away, her rage falling away to be subsumed by panic and absolute fear.

Their older selves saw Connolly race around the edge of the house dropping the remaining three agents while Hawk cut down the three who emerged from the woods behind Connolly leaving only Henshaw alive. Both girls had the blood of the massacred agents splattered all over them. Alex felt the fear emanating from her younger self, fear for herself, but mostly fear for her sister. The same sister who snapped the cuffs, seeing Henshaw trying to pull his gun before she slammed into him hard enough to break his ribs, almost propelling him over the cliff to the rocks below.

Little Alex's terror and panic increased greatly when she was grabbed around the waist by Hawk and physically hauled away from her sister. Her anger was returning as she fought the soldier's grip, flailing, kicking and screaming, her efforts succeeding when Hawk lost his hold on her. She swiftly ran back to the cliff where her sister had unleashed her heat vision on Henshaw's arm, leaving nothing but a stump and molten metal. Little Kara's face was a mask of rage induced hatred, eyes glowing brightly as she prepared to incinerate what remained of the doomed DEO director.

"Look at me!" Older Kara muttered obviously distressed, voice breaking. "How are you not afraid of me? I could have killed you, but there you are, right behind me, talking me down, pulling me back… "

Alex squeezed her sister's hand, bringing her back into their bubble, even as the horror before them played out. "I have never been afraid of you… but I've been absolutely terrified _for_ you. More than I would ever admit to you or anyone. You weren't the only one to keep secrets, Kara. But now you know."

Looking back to the scene, Alex said, "Focus on little me, what I'm feeling… you'll know."

Though apprehensive, Kara did as Alex asked. She focused her attention on her sister's younger self. She felt how scared little Alex was, not of Kara, but of what Henshaw and his goons had put her family through, what they had pushed Kara to do. She felt the panic in her sister's entire being, fearing Kara would kill Henshaw, fearing she would run in the belief that her new family would see her as a monster.

What Kara found in abundance in little Alex though, beneath the terror at what they had witnessed, was an unwavering belief in Kara and what they could accomplish together. Alex's belief in her was mind blowing, her sister's love for her all-consuming. There was no rational explanation, but their connection pulled her back to herself and kept her from killing Henshaw. Kara was stunned.

"From the time I first met you, we were a team, us against the world. This was the first time I truly realized how much I had to lose… the dangers we were in became vividly real to me… not some abstract notion, but life or death." Alex hesitated a moment before she continued. "This was the point that the rage that lives in me, that has become a constant companion, was born. It was fueled by those who wanted to take you from me… Henshaw, Lex and Lillian Luthor, Non, Astra, Sam Lane, Waller, Lord… all of them."

Kara shook her head, still not quite able to accept her sister's unconditional faith in her. "But I wanted Henshaw dead, I wanted him to feel pain, but mostly I wanted to kill him myself. I didn't because I couldn't stand the thought of seeing fear in your eyes… fear in your parents' eyes. Fear of me. You brought me back to myself, Alex, I see that now… but how could you not be afraid of me and afraid of the horror I brought to your life?"

Alex reached out to grip Kara's shoulders, needing her sister to not only hear, but understand her words once and for all. "The massacre of those men, the blood, the screaming, the death… believe me when I say that stuff really didn't bother me. They deserved to die. Just remember, I would've happily been giving kittens heart transplants if Mom and Dad would've let me."

Seeking she had Kara's full attention, Alex continued. "Just accept that none of those things frightened me. To this day, my biggest fear, the one that keeps me up at night, the one I could truly never overcome… the one that literally destroyed me, is losing you. Kara, you are not a monster. You are a beautiful, loving person and you've always had the biggest heart towards helping those who needed a hero."

"Thanks, Alex. I'm sorry I left you… I never wanted to cause you pain." Kara said, pulling Alex in for another hug. Given the subjects they were unlocking in their mind palace, Kara could see many more hugs before they reached the end.

The blonde stepped back, seeing they were now standing alone on the bluff. She was about to ask Alex what she thought they should do next when she felt a chill move down her spine, causing her to shiver. Suddenly, both girls were screaming in agony as they experienced a burning, severe pain. Kara looked down in shock at her forearm and the back of her hand which were turning red and blistering, Alex showing similar burns on hers.

"What happened? What caused this?" Kara asked. Her sister was unable to speak, anguish clear on her face.

The vision shifted again, their merged consciousness sending them into a welcomed state of oblivion, free from the intense pain and smell of burning flesh.


	14. Chapter 14

Do not own CW or DC characters

Chapter 14

 **National City**

Lar and Garth were at the end of their patience. They had come to National City with Brainy to hack street cameras near the DEO base only to find most of the old footage from two years ago, and for several years before that, had been erased. Not even Brainy could recover it. They were still no closer in discovering the face of the woman known as Manhunter and then later, if Brainy's theory was correct, the Angel.

They also found when Brainy hacked the State of California DMV records, there were many, many females matching the mystery girl's estimated height and weight with short, brunette hair. Not one of them stood out. Brainy deduced that the woman must have had her driver's license erased from the California databank along with any and all record of her existence. She was very thorough and most likely no longer lived in the State.

Basically, they learned nothing.

In a last-ditch effort at getting any information on her, they decided to go to the only alien bar in National City and ask complete strangers, beings who were already paranoid of being discovered on Earth, about the woman who was Supergirl's human crime fighting partner.

Besides a few glares in their direction and several aliens telling them to mind their own business, the trio had gotten nowhere. Either the patrons knew nothing about the mystery woman's true appearance, or they were too afraid to talk.

The bartender, a woman named Meghan, approached them when they moved to the bar, all three slumping over, dejected in their failure. "I guess you guys aren't from around here. Just a friendly warning. On Earth, you don't mention the names Kara Zor El, Supergirl, Batman, J'onn J'onzz or Lobo in an alien bar. Kara Zor El may be gone but asking too many questions could bring Lobo, the Martian Manhunter or the Batman here. No one wants that kind of trouble and no one wants to be involved. You keep asking questions, a lot of these guys and gals are going to shut you up. I don't want trouble in my bar, so you boys sit here quietly, stop asking questions, have a drink, then leave."

Brainy opened his mouth, but Lar stopped him.

"No drinks, only our apologies. We will leave now." he told the woman behind the bar.

Grabbing Brainy by the back of his neck to pull him away, the three walked out into the alley, only to find a group of aliens waiting for them with assorted weapons in their hands.

"Gentlemen." Garth greeted them. They didn't seem inclined to return the greeting.

"You guys get the hell out of National City before you bring the Batman or the Martian Manhunter down on us. We like this place and don't want to see it burned," a blue skinned humanoid alien with one robotic arm told them. "And you definitely don't ask about the Angel."

Brainy gave a nod to Lar and Garth. Garth sent non-lethal bolts of electricity into five of the six men, dropping them immediately. Only the alien with a prosthetic arm remained standing and no longer looked as confident.

"You seem like you can answer all the questions we have." Brainiac told him. "Perhaps we can move away from this establishment and talk without any further violence. We mean you no harm, but it is a matter of great importance that we speak to the Angel."

The alien backed away, shaking his head. "I owe that woman my life. You may as well kill me, because I am not talking about her to anyone."

Lar moved toward him, but Brainy held him back, urging both his companions to relax so he could try and convince the nervous alien to talk.

"Please, we need to know more about her. Again, we mean no harm to anyone, least of all her, but finding her is of cosmic importance. We are a long way from… home, yes… we are stranded here. Our… ship's power source is damaged, and we are hoping she may know the whereabouts of another source that can get us home."

"So, go to Gotham. Talk to that human freak that dresses like a bat. See if he tells you anything. He might help you just to get you to leave the planet. It's safer dealing with him anyway than trying to find the Angel. Good luck to you." The alien turned to walk away but was stopped by Brainy's next question.

"This Angel, she was once known as Manhunter, correct? She was Supergirl's partner?"

The man stopped and turned back to them. "There are things you don't talk about."

"I'm serious, we are no threat to her… we only need her help." the Coluan in disguise told him once again. "You say she saved your life. I understand you wouldn't know her true identity regardless, but can you at least answer a few questions to give us a better understanding of the woman?"

The alien shrugged his shoulders. "What's to understand? Seems like you got the answers you need."

"Well, would you satisfy my curiosity? Why do aliens call her the Angel?" Brainy asked. "Can you at least tell me that? How would someone go from the moniker of Manhunter to that name?"

The blue skinned alien looked around and glanced at his friends still unconscious on the ground. "I don't know who she is. I don't want to know. You want to know why she is called the Angel? Come with me. We can't talk about her here. She saved five other men and one female who are in the bar now."

The three Legionnaires followed behind the man. Once they turned a corner the alien touched an image inducer, turning him into a Caucasian male with dirty blonde hair and glasses. Not long after, they found themselves in a rundown section of the city, following their new friend into a room on the second floor of a motel that looked as if it charged by the hour or the month rather than the day.

Moving to the small refrigerator in the room, he pulled out a gun and had a seat at the desk facing the three.

"Have a seat on the bed." He said, waving the gun in their general direction.

"Bed?" Lar asked nervously. Though possessing nearly identical powers to a Kryptonian, he was less powerful and had one definite weakness as Brainy had discovered… lead. The human weapon was defintely filled with lead bullets.

"You see any other place to sit?"

The three sat side by side at the end of the bed.

"Who are you three? Names?"

"This is Lar and Garth." Brainy answered quickly. "I am... Dox. We are visitors from Naltor and have heard stories of Supergirl and the human female who was her partner. What may we call you?"

"Bob." the alien replied, obviously giving a false name.

Brainy nodded his head, expecting as much. At this period of Earth's history, the majority of humans did not trust aliens unless the alien wore a red cape.

Hoping to gain the skittish man's trust, or at least get him to put the gun down, Brainy expanded slightly on the story they had concocted. "Nice to meet you, Bob. As I explained before, we need help to get home. If Supergirl were still alive, we'd find and ask her, but she isn't, so her partner seems to be the best person to ask. I am interested in knowing anything we can find out about her. After all, anyone Supergirl trusted enough to fight by her side… well, that's why we feel she can help us."

Seeing he had the man's attention, he continued, "You say the Angel saved your life? May I ask where and when this was?"

The blue man regarded him silently for a moment. "I don't know anything about Supergirl's partner, but I suppose there's no harm telling you about the Angel. Me and other aliens were captured by a group called Cadmus. Bunch of human scientists and mercs, some I hear were in the armed forces. I was kept locked away for years. I was experimented on weekly, sometimes daily. The bastards took my arm and most likely would've taken everything else I had. I'm strong by human standards and I think they wanted to turn me into some mind controlled, half alien, half cyborg soldier. My life was hell until the day she came."

"The Angel?" Brainy asked.

'Bob' nodded. "Security was tight, we were hidden away in a mountain somewhere in Pennsylvania. Communication was delivered by handwritten mail because they were too afraid to communicate over email. Rumor had it that if Supergirl found them they were all dead. I guess they got lax last year after she died. We were sitting in our cells, wondering what new horror the day would bring, hoping that those bastards would leave us alone for a day. Some guy named Hardcastle was running things. Found out later that he was the one remaining Cadmus cell leader in the world, though we didn't know it at the time."

The alien took a moment, his mind obviously going back to his time spent in that hell. A small smile appeared on his face.

"On that day, we hear screaming, alarms going off, red lights flashing. Then we hear the weapons being fired, not human guns but plasma bolts. Soldiers began falling back, getting picked off one by one. Then she walked by, moving through the hallway like she was on a stroll, guns in both hands, picking them off with no cover."

"Did you see her face?" Brainy asked excitedly. "Did anyone call out a name?"

"Wouldn't tell you if I did see a face or heard a name. She gets near my cell and I can see she is dressed in head to toe black, only her eyes could be seen. She's got a couple blue dwarf star grenades on her belt, two handguns and a Katana on her back."

"A Katana?" Lar asked, surprised that someone with such powerful weapons would have something as simple as a sword.

"Yeah. So, she puts the guns back in their holster, touches something on her ear and tells someone named Kelex to open the cells. We all step out, looking at her, wondering if she was some sort of alien or what. Then she tells us to go. Says all the guards and scientists were dead and we were free."

The man closed his eyes and his smile grew bigger. "She drew the Katana and continued on down the hall. Me and some other prisoners are left wondering what the hell to do. We weren't even sure where the way out was. That's when we heard the final screams. I run towards the sounds with some other guys, thinking maybe we could help her out, you know, since she helped us out. Instead, when we reach the control room, we find five guys, sliced to pieces and Hardcastle on the floor, head next to his body and that Katana she was carrying stuck in his chest. She was gone."

The alien leaned back in his chair, relaxed enough to lower his gun but not enough to lay it down. "A few of us walked over and saw the sword. It had 'Al Malak' inscribed on the blade, Arabic for 'angel'. We made our way out and an hour later, J'onn J'onzz shows up, gives us image inducers and leads us to civilization. Never saw her again. Everyone started calling her the Angel of Death due to that sword. Those of us she saved, we just called her the Angel. Nobody has seen her since. I guess she did what she set out to do. Found out later she single-handedly eradicated every Cadmus cell and leader, destroyed the organization. That's all I know about her. If you know what's good for you that's all you need to know. She doesn't play. If she was the Manhunter as you obviously seem to think, then she's got some serious friends who like to hurt people, like Lobo and Batman. Regardless, she's obviously got the Green Martian on her side."

The three Legionnaires sat silent for a moment, taking in what they had learned. History told them Supergirl had no problem dealing with some of her enemies using lethal tactics. It appeared her sister had the same mindset, making them wonder how they would approach her if they eventually found her, and then how to convince her to help them.

"Thank you. We won't be asking anymore questions." Brainy told him and left the hotel. Once the three were a safe distance away, Lar broke the silence.

"We came all the way to National City and what do we know? She is obviously the same girl who used to hang with Supergirl, she carried a personal vendetta against a malicious group of humans who experimented on aliens, most likely has gone into hiding and could be anywhere. This trip was a bust. Oh, and what description we have on her fits about five hundred women in National City."

Brainy shook his head and sighed. "I have another idea on how we might find her, but it was longer odds than trying to find her through the California DMV."

His two friends looked at him with twin expressions of annoyance. Lar spoke first. "Longer odds than this waste of time? I'm not holding my breath..."

Brainy knew his friends were discouraged, and he couldn't blame them. Still, any lead was worth following up at this point. "In this time period, Manhunter defeated Indigo and sent her to the Phantom Zone using a human virus of all things to weaken her. In the future, when Indigo escaped the Phantom Zone three years before we traveled back to recruit Superman, I downloaded her memories before she was imprisoned again. The girl who defeated her said she was 'more into biology'. As much as I loath to admit it… I have a hunch. I've suspected she is a very educated individual. Perhaps even possesses a doctorate, more likely a researcher rather than a medical doctor. Judging by her response time to Doomsday, I would surmise her location to be somewhere on the East Coast. Instead of searching DMVs, we should begin looking at females who fit her description involved in some sort of biomedical research."

"That could be as many as the DMV in California." Garth pointed out.

Brainy shook his head. "Searching a generalized state registry would gather a number of results. We begin our search on the East Coast, only limited to females matching her description working at a hospital, university, or research lab. We could even cross check with the Centers for Disease Control. Once we find the possible results, we begin investigating them one by one. We have no choice. It may take weeks, but this is our best chance at finding her."

"And if it doesn't work?" Lar asked.

Brainy let out a deep breath. "Then we take our chances and explain the situation to Batman. Perhaps if we are nice he may at least be a go between for us and her, but I prefer to speak to her face to face without involving others."

 **The Fortress of Solitude**

It had been three hours and the girls showed no signs of waking up. Eliza, Jeremiah and Clark were sitting on a lounge chair Jeremiah had pulled close to the beds. Eliza was cocooned between the two with Jeremiah's arm around her and Clark holding her hand. The three watched carefully, their eyes flitting between the two girls and the monitor showing their merged brainwaves.

Kelex, meanwhile, was carefully placing an IV in Alex's arm so fluid could be administered if she needed it to prevent dehydration. He was concerned that the longer she and Kara were under the more physical stress would be placed on her body. He was determined to keep a close eye on her vitals and do what he could to aid her. As it was, there was nothing he could do for Kara physically.

"What if they never wake up, Mom?" He overheard Clark ask quietly.

Eliza pulled her hand from Clark's grasp and put her arm around his shoulder, pulling him to her as he lay his head on her shoulder. "They will. Have a little faith, Clark. We just got them back. They won't leave us."

Kelex could see the puzzled look on the boy's face as he turned to look up at her. "What do you mean we just got _them_ back? We got Kara back… Alex didn't go anywhere."

Eliza smiled, but the smile was a small one. "What I mean is with Kara gone, Alex pulled away, isolated herself. Most of the time neither your father nor I had any idea where she was or what she was doing. With Kara back, I'm hoping Alex will be willing to see us more so we can try to get back the closeness our family once had."

With a slight tremble in his voice, Clark asked, "Ok, I can see that… but given that their minds have merged, what will they be when they do wake up?"

Jeremiah reached over and rubbed his shoulder. "They will be our daughters, your sisters, and our family will begin to heal... all of us, together."

No sooner had those words left Jeremiah's mouth, the monitor began beeping. Kelex moved over to the console while the three Danvers stood immediately, watching Alex's heart begin to speed up along with Kara's.

"What's going on, Kelex?" Eliza asked, panic in her voice.

The AI looked at the heart monitors and at the girls noting their increased breathing and heart rates. He also noticed each girl clinching their fists, the sweat forming on each of their brows, and the tightening of muscles.

"They are in pain." He finally admitted to the family.

"Can you stop it?" Jeremiah asked.

He moved quickly towards his daughters only to be held back by a metal hand. "No… neither can you. You cannot interfere."

The four stood still, watching the girls, wondering what was going on and hoping whatever it was would stop soon.

As the anxious family watched, Kara and Alex were also watching and feeling a 13-year-old Kara, sitting in the bathroom unleashing her heat vision into her forearm.

"My god, how are you not screaming?" Alex whispered, teeth clenched, watching her own arm turning red and then black, feeling her flesh baking, the pain so intense she could barely concentrate.

"What are you doing?" Kara asked her younger self, watching her burning her own little arm. She was feeling every bit of the pain, just as Alex was. "Please stop!"

Young Kara did stop, breathing heavily, tears streaming down her face and holding in sobs so she would not be heard.

"It gets worse, Kara." Alex whispered, wanting to grab her arm but knowing it would hurt worse if she did.

Waves of memories crashed into the girls of every time Kara hurt herself. They both screamed when the younger Kara broke her fingers. The cuts were not as bad, just stinging sensations really compared to the torment of burning flesh and breaking bones.

The waves stopped as they found themselves on the other side of the bathroom door. Young Alex was leaned against the wall, checking her watch. "Ten minutes are up, Kara. Get out of the shower."

Hearing nothing, Alex reached for the doorknob, only to find it locked. "Locking the door is against the plan and you know it! Open the damn door!"

The shower kept running without a word from Kara.

"Last chance!" Not hearing Kara's voice, Alex stepped forward and kicked the door open. She found her little sister on the floor wrapped in a towel with her hair still wet, clutching a broken finger. As they watched the scene, both sisters felt a sharp pain immediately. They saw young Alex grab Kara's hand, wiping the tears from her little sister's face and pulling her close.

"Damn it, Kara. It's been a week. What happened?" Young Alex whispered, taken in the misshapen finger. "We need to set it. I can't do it for you. Do you need me to find a steel rod or something for you to bite on?"

The little blonde shook her head and popped her finger back in place with a scream, a pain so intense it overwhelmed both the sisters watching.

"Why did I do this to myself?" Kara whispered. She knelt next to her younger self cupping the little girl's face in her hands and gently forcing her to look her in the eyes.

"Why did we do this?" she asked again.

"Because we deserved it." the little girl answered shakily.

Kara shook her head. "No! We didn't! Nobody deserves this! Look at Alex! She is feeling this! Do you think she deserves this?"

"Alex wasn't supposed to feel this! It's mine! It's all I have. Let her try and grab a glass! See if she likes holding it, knowing the least amount of pressure can shatter it! Let her hold Clark or hug Mom and Dad and be terrified of breaking them!" The little girl's tears were sliding unchecked down her face, pooling around Kara's hands, her voice breaking. "I can't even feel when Alex hugs me... this is the only way I can feel something, the only way I can feel anything! We deserve this!"

"No, we don't!" Kara yelled at her younger self. "This stops now!"

"It will never stop!"

Kara was thrown against the bathroom wall, digging into her arm with her fingernails, making a bloody mess of herself. Glancing at Alex, she saw her older sister had blood streaming from her arm and was close to tears.

"Stop! I remember, okay! I remember the pain! Just stop!" the older blonde yelled.

The two were in the living room on the couch, their younger selves gone.

Kara looked at her sister, her heart pounding in her chest. "Why did I do that? I remember when Jessica made me tell everyone I was breaking my fingers. You told me everything I did to myself I would be doing to you. I guess you were right. You shouldn't have come. I'm sorry I caused you so much pain."

Alex put her arm around her sister, pulling her close. "I can handle pain, the same as you."

"We didn't deserve that." Kara whispered, curling into Alex. Alex began running her hands through her sister's blonde hair, still suffering the pain in her hands and the burning of her arms.

"No, you didn't. But you didn't do those things to yourself simply because you feared your powers and were desperate to experience normal physical sensations. There was more to it. Please Kara, let it all out… only then can you let it go." Alex's voice held no recrimination, only understanding and support.

Comforted in her sister's embrace, Kara began unloading all her pent-up feelings, knowing she was safe with Alex. "I felt...so many things. But I always felt shame. Mom would wake up at 2 and Dad would wake up at 5. They would check on me. They would pull the sleeves up on my arms and check for cuts and burns. They would rub my fingers. I felt so ashamed. I was supposed to be strong, but I was weak. I was always weak."

Alex held her closer. "With the amount of trauma you experienced, it isn't surprising you had so many problems. You did the best you could, we all did. Jessica tried and in a lot of ways, she helped you. We didn't have red sunrays and special drugs or even crystals. We didn't have a hospital to take you to, we just didn't have what we needed to really help you. And you tried so hard. You really did."

"But it wasn't enough." Kara shook her head, burrowing down into Alex's shoulder. She asked softly, "You feel it, don't you? What I felt in those moments?"

Alex sighed, kissing the top of Kara's head. "Yeah, I do. Not just the physical pain, but also a sense of... worthlessness. Jor El made you feel worthless. Growing up, your father made you feel like a constant failure. You didn't think you were taking care of Clark like you promised you would, you felt hopeless and angry and didn't have any real way to express that, so you took it out on yourself. You never understood that what happened on Krypton, what happened with Henshaw, wasn't your fault. You punished yourself."

"And all of you." Kara whispered. "Is it wrong to feel sorry for her, for myself I guess?"

Alex shook her head. "Of course, it's not wrong. You were in torment… and that much pain…" The brunette closed her eyes and held Kara tighter, tears running down her cheeks, trying to control her breathing. Alex knew Kara had been in pain, not just physically but emotionally. She now felt its seemingly endless depths and her heart shattered.

Another scene shift had them standing outside, still trying to recover from the last memory overload.

The two were seeing through Alex's eyes. It was obvious because Connolly was standing in front of her, training knife in hand.

"When you face an enemy with a blade, shoot him. If you don't have a gun, take your knife and prepare. Always have a knife on you. Even if you are wearing a prom dress, have one strapped to your thigh. Understand?"

"Got it." Alex pulled the hard rubber knife from her belt and stood in front of her instructor.

"If you have the distance and you think it's going to turn into hand to hand, lay the blade back against your forearm, swing up close, throat shots. Go for the kill. If the enemy rushes you, knife to the front, simple stick, into the body, angle it up and pull out. Do not hesitate and strike your opponent like you are trying to punch his heart out, because that is what you are essentially doing. Forget about staying low. Keep the same fighting stance as hand to hand."

The two circled each other until Connolly moved in almost a blur, knife swiping to Alex's throat. She fell back just in time and rolled. He advanced on her and she dove, striking his gut with her weapon and pulling up.

"Good." the man smiled at her. "Let's work on side steps along with shots to the vital organs. A strike through the ribcage from the side is easier than breaking through a sternum."

The two girls stepped back, watching a 16-year-old Alex attacking, dodging and weaving. It was obvious the man was holding back, but the young teen was still impressive and so fast.

Then they saw Astra where Connolly had been standing. Alex began to fight harder and Kara was shocked by the anger she felt, the hatred emanating from her older sister.

"I wish I could have been the one to kill her. You would have been so much happier if she had stayed where she belonged." Alex told her bitterly. "If only Non had been human, if I had known how to fight Henshaw, I could have killed him. I swore to myself I would never be unprepared again. I would do whatever it took to keep my family safe. I knew I would kill and... and when I did... I liked it." Alex admitted.

Kara could feel her shame at that admission. She felt the regret, not for killing those who deserved it, but for losing herself in the act, often even enjoying it.

Memories filtered through her mind of times when Alex had calmed her, talked to her about restraint, into not killing when it wasn't necessary. This new understanding of what lay deep within her sister's psyche shocked her. Kara was so stunned she was almost speechless. "Alex?"

"You thought you were a killer? I was too. I still am. And I didn't just defend my family, I started hunting." Alex whispered.

The view changed to a 15-year-old Kara, sparring with Dante. They could both feel Kara's infatuation with the man. They also felt Kara's intense attention to every move he made.

"It's time I showed you a new technique. We are going to do this slowly. It's simple and effective but it has to be timed right."

"Okay." the girl told him.

"I am going to swing at you from the right with a hook. Slip under it, grab my throat with one arm, slip your inside leg behind mine and push.

Kara did as instructed, moving slowly.

"Bend me back." he whispered.

Kara did so gently as he urged her to bend further until he was at nearly a ninety-degree angle.

"Both arms around my neck, bend your knees and then lift and twist. Just lift right now, don't bend. Feel the position and the power it gives you."

Kara did so. "You are helpless. If you fall your neck will still be in my arms. If you stay still you are at my mercy."

"There can be no mercy, Kara. Not in this. This is a move designed to end a fight permanently. No matter how angry you become, no matter what kind of fight this is, one of technique or one of blinding rage, at this moment, you must stop your emotions. You lift and twist until you hear the snap. Cold, Kara. If you ever find yourself in a fight of equals or someone stronger than yourself, watch for the right or left hook. Wait for your enemy to make a mistake… an elbow back, a shoulder dips, that split second, you duck then move in. You place them in an indefensible position and then do not hesitate. No emotion. You have to end it quickly. There may be multiple enemies around you. End it and move on to the next, understand?" Dante asked.

"I do." Kara assured him. "No emotion, no hesitation. End it quickly and move on."

As Kara watched her younger self, she commented to Alex, "I would have done anything he told me to. I thought he loved me the way I wanted him too. It was never going to happen though, was it?"

Alex didn't say anything, but Kara saw the understanding in her eyes. She shook her head with a sigh and moved on, finally able to let go of Dante and everything he represented. "When he showed me this that's the moment I knew. I knew using that move would be how I killed Astra. An enemy equal or stronger than yourself, indefensible, break her neck. Fast and simple."

"We shouldn't have had to learn those things, but we did." Alex told her. "We didn't have a choice then, but we do now."

Kara shook her head. "But I did have a choice, didn't I? Astra wasn't the first person I killed. She wasn't even the second and she certainly wasn't the last. How many people did I kill that I didn't have to?"

When the scene shifted again, the two found themselves at the high school. They saw a boy talking to his friends, a boy in a letter jacket, leaned against the locker.

"Kara Danvers is a freak in the back seat of a car. It's a challenge getting her away from her babysitter and you have to keep matches away from her, but her body makes up for it."

Alex felt Kara's emotions hearing that. Their younger selves were just around the corner and both had no problems hearing the guys.

Alex felt Kara's shame, humiliation, anger and the hole inside her. That ever-gaping hole that no amount of alcohol, drugs, dead bodies, or even self-inflicted damage could ever fill. A hole so deep that it cried out in revenge for ever having been born.

But Kara felt Alex's anger, her pure, unadulterated rage.

She watched her older sister leave the house that afternoon, announcing she had to go to the library for a book.

They both saw the brunette waiting for Cody Adamson, star Midvale linebacker to get out of football practice.

They watched Alex approach him in the parking lot, ask him if he was up for fun at a special place she knew of. Alex gave him directions to the cave.

An hour later she was waiting for him. He ran up the trail and grinned when he saw her, obviously thinking he was about to score a proverbial touchdown.

Alex didn't waste time on small talk, waiting until he was within striking distance, then landed her first shot, a straight punch to the kidneys, followed by the blade of her hand into his throat.

While he lay on the ground, she walked around him, kicking him in the ribs three times until he curled into a fetal position.

"Get up." the young girl told the much larger teen, her rage driving her on.

He scurried to his feet, apparently looking to run away or attack, he didn't appear to be sure. He could hardly breath and the two girls felt the savage glee young Alex was feeling, the euphoria found in the calculated destruction of one of her little sister's tormenters.

The boy made a mistake, intending to push Alex against a tree, reaching for her throat.

Alex moved to the side and struck his lower spine with a kick, then dropped her foot on his knee tendon with a sickening crack.

She knelt next to her fallen foe who had tears in his eyes. In a calm voice that belied the circumstances, Alex stated, "Your kidney is damaged, your lungs are bruised, and you are going to feel pain in your lower spine for a few weeks. I didn't break anything. Wouldn't want you paralyzed… well, actually… I would, but whatever. Your knee is wrecked so football season is over for you. Now then… you have two choices. You can tell the cops you got savagely beaten by a 120 lb. girl or you tell them you tripped and rolled down the cliff onto the beach over at Miller's Cove. It's a twenty-foot drop, so it should account for your injuries. That's the excuse I would go with if you don't want your friends laughing at you."

Reaching over, she pulled his head back by the hair, her foot pressing into his shattered knee. "Cody, I want you to fully understand what I'm about to tell you. Are you listening?"

The broken boy wheezed out a 'yes'.

Alex's grin was sadistic, the manic gleam in her eyes reflecting the overpowering rage both girls felt in her soul. "If I ever hear you say one more word about my sister, one more lie, I will kill you. Do we understand each other?"

"Alex," Kara whispered. "Why..."

"Because I wanted to, and I could. The same way you threatened Becky before my soccer tryouts, remember?"

"Yes." Kara admitted.

"Kara, we are each other's light. We always have been. And we have always made our enemies pay. Without each other, we fall into our own darkness. When you flew into the sun, I lost my light. My path became even more dark and twisted, full of death, and so much hatred." Feeling a panic attack coming on, knowing Kara could feel everything, Alex closed her eyes, before shaking her head slightly to center herself. She took a deep breath and opened her eyes again, looking at her sister. "Kara, I don't want to hide my darkness from you anymore. I've tried to protect you from it, but I can't now. I want you to understand that you aren't the only one who feels the anger, the rage. We are what we are because we never had a choice. Yes, you've killed people, enemies you didn't have to. So have I. The first bastard you killed was a Vrang. Strong but nowhere near your speed and strength. Strong enough to cut your lip but no challenge for you. Do you remember? Can you see it?" Alex asked.

Kara nodded her head. "I shattered his spine. I smiled before I did it. Why did I do that? I never wanted to be that person."

"We are what we made ourselves, Kara. We couldn't fight an army of convicts by being nice to our enemies. I never wanted that for you, but we became what we had to be, what our enemies forced us to be."

"But not anymore." Kara said, her expression determined. "We can find peace now. We will find peace. Peace with ourselves. We have to Alex. I don't want to be that person anymore. I don't want you to be that person anymore."

Alex grabbed her hand and squeezed. "We won't be. I promise. But all of this happened, and we lost our way. You isolated yourself and it got worse the more you drank. But this next moment? You need to understand what happened. You never had a choice. She didn't give you one. She did this to herself. It was never your fault and you need to understand that. You have to move on. We both do."

Kara was absorbing everything Alex was saying to her, but her last words were confusing. "Who did what to herself?"

But the world had shifted again, the cave no longer there. Kara was on a beach, filled with anger and fear. In front of her was Astra.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

As Kara's memories rushed into her head, Alex tried desperately to hold onto herself. From the moment Astra appeared in front of them, every ounce of anger and fear Kara had experienced at that point, bombarded her, blowing through their joined minds in a torrent.

She felt herself flying in Kara's early memories, felt the heat vision her little sister had unleashed, first on the bear and cave wall, then on Hank Henshaw and herself. But Alex had never experienced anything as brutal as the fight with the Kryptonian in that Metropolis bar as Kara's memory of that moment blasted through her.

Now she was feeling that power radiating through her again. Kara had grown much stronger as she aged, and it was never more apparent than now.

The brunette knew her sister was with her, felt her presence wrapped around her like a warm blanket, but the two were merged so deeply now she could feel every bit of power as if it were her own. She had flown like a missile, moving at incredible speeds, blowing Astra through the wall and onto the beach, felt the worry for her family inside and her immense anger when she stood face to face with the woman.

As if she were a passenger strapped into an out of control car, Alex felt herself fighting Kara's aunt.

The two traded blows, blasts of heat vision. The power Alex felt frightened her and for the first time, she understood just how powerful Kara truly was. Intellectually, she had known from observation but feeling it, feeling the burn from the depths of her body channeled through her red vision was a shocking experience. It was in that moment that Alex understood why Kara was so afraid of herself and what she could do if she lost control even for a second.

"You get used to it." Kara's voice told her. Alex couldn't see the blonde since they were both inhabiting the same body now. Her sister's voice spoke quietly in their shared mind space, calming Alex with its soothing tone. "The power I mean. The constant feeling of wanting to explode, waiting for a target to unleash it on. The high that accompanies finally releasing your anger."

Alex shook her head, trying to focus on what was going on in front of her, to gain some control and clarity.

She was winning the fight. For every shot Astra landed, Alex and Kara were landing three. Their bones were breaking but so was their enemy's.

"What has happened to you?" Astra cried out in anguish, her voice shaking upon finally seeing the monster she helped create behind the eyes of her beloved niece.

"I became what I had to be. Your journey ends here. You died when you touched them." Alex heard Kara's voice saying.

Kara's anger never lessened, leaving Alex caught up in the whirlwind of her little sister's dark emotions.

Until she had Astra in her grip. Alex knew this position well. She had used it to break a neck once. She knew what was about to happen. Fully submerged in Kara's psyche now, she felt everything.

"Kara, please, I love you." Astra was begging her… pleading with her.

The truth in those words shocked Alex. They grieved Kara. For a moment, Kara felt pity, remorse, hesitation, loss… and love.

Then their emotions were gone. Kara had turned herself off, just as Dante taught her. No anger, no remorse, nothing… just an underlying determination to do what she had to do.

A snap of the neck.

"I love you, too." Alex and Kara found themselves saying, tears falling down their face.

It was true. Despite everything, despite not regretting what she was doing, Kara loved Astra. The worst part was Alex knew Astra loved Kara. She heard it in Astra's plea, saw it in her eyes.

Their perspective shifted, revealing a green glow in the sky, sparkling dust falling on the beach. The images began to speed up as the memories of both girls assailed them.

Kara raging at the descending Kryptonians, before dropping, convulsing on the ground, knife in hand, being carried into the basement...

Alex's training taking over as she raised her gun at the first target, a woman decked in the black of the Kryptonian military, she pulled the trigger.

The woman stood still for a moment, a quarter sized hole in her head, then dropped to the ground limp.

Kara felt Alex's shock, and a prevailing numbness. Not regret, just disbelief that it had happened. Alex always knew before the war was over, she would have to kill. She had just not expected it to be tonight. Staring at the lifeless woman, Alex was momentarily paralyzed until she felt Connolly touch her arm. Steeling herself, she looked for her sister, Alex's fright escalating when she couldn't find Kara while Kryptonite particles rained down around her.

Panic, fear, anger, dread and so much pain relentlessly flooded through their joined mind, Alex staring in horror as Kara's seizures grew worse, slowly drowning in her own blood, their father's indecision and doubt, their mother screaming at him to stop stalling and save her… the cacophony of emotions literally shredding the sisters' minds…

"Stop!" Kara yelled.

In the sudden silence, Alex found herself on her hands and knees, Kara in the same position beside her.

"I remember… all of it. I'm sorry, Alex. I never wanted to burden you with those feelings." Kara said, her head down as she fought to regain control of her breathing.

Alex leaned back on her heels, steadying herself and reaching over to rub Kara's back. "I'm not sorry. I understand a lot better now… for everything she did to our family, I do believe now that she really loved you... I'm not saying that to make you feel guilty either."

Kara didn't respond but reached out to Alex and stood, pulling Alex up with her. Both were shaking in the aftermath of their shared revelations.

Kara and Alex walked slowly over to where Astra's dead body lay on the sand. The blonde knelt next to her and brushed a strand of hair off her face. "I told her... on the phone... I told her if she made me kill her, I would never forgive her. Do you remember?"

"Yes." Alex whispered.

Kara ran her hand through Astra's hair, smoothing it down, drawing her finger down the edge of her strong cheekbone, before reaching down to take her aunt's hand. "Look at her. She was... she could have come to me in so many ways. She didn't have to threaten them, try to kill them. She could have been part of us, part of our family. I told her I wanted to remember her as she was… to remember the way we were. But in the end, she lost her mind the same as I did. Astra was really no different than me in a lot of ways. She felt betrayed by my mother, she obsessed over finding me for years. She changed so much from the person I knew."

Kara paused, reflecting on the tranquil look on Astra's face. She saw the aunt she loved in that expression. "I know you saw her as a psychopath, but she wasn't always like this. Being awake in the Phantom Zone for so long... Mother hid the truth from her. If she hadn't... maybe Astra wouldn't have killed to save a planet that was already doomed. My mother told me on the launch pad that she made sure Astra was safe. I understand now… she sentenced Astra to the Phantom Zone to save her life… because my life and Astra's were more important to her than her own. She risked everything for us, and Astra never knew how much my mother loved her."

Kara looked at Alex now with watery eyes and a small smile on her face. "I want to show you my Aunt Astra. I want you to see who she truly was before the cruelty of our circumstances destroyed both of us."

Alex found herself in Kara's body once again, a smaller body. She was a child on Krypton.

Astra was there in her room. This Astra was very different. The coldness was not present in her eyes. Instead, a bright smile lit up her face and she ran towards Alex, wrapping her in the warmest hug, lifting her off her feet. "How is my brave warrior today?"

Alex found herself giggling of all things, a feeling of joy sweeping through her body. "I missed you. Where have you been? What have you been doing? Did you have to fight? Are you okay? Did you bring me anything? Can I see your ship?" Alex heard herself asking in Kara's voice, excitement building.

"Give me a moment. Let's see. I have been orbiting the planet, running my guard through drills, I haven't fought anyone because the universe knows better than to attack Krypton, of course I brought you something and the ship is still in orbit so no, you can't see it this time, but one day soon, I promise. The ship will be in dock for maintenance next month and I will give you a tour." Astra kissed Alex on the nose, her arms holding the young girl close even as Alex's arms were wrapped around her neck.

"Yes! Do you think Father will let me go?" Alex's face was even with Astra's own, so the older woman had no trouble seeing the delight and desire in her beloved niece's eyes.

Astra shrugged her shoulders and smiled. "I bet if I twisted his arm, or his leg, or back, really hard, he would agree to whatever I want. Where is your mother?"

"In court. She will be in session late into the night. I don't know where father is. I believe he told Mother that he would be with Jor El, but I am not sure what they are doing. What did you bring me?" Alex asked excitedly.

Astra pulled out a crystal globe. A hologram appeared above it of a beautiful blonde female with large white wings open wide.

"She is beautiful. Why does she have wings?" Alex asked almost reverently, eyes transfixed on the globe.

In a conspiratorial whisper, Astra replied, "Some say these beautiful creatures inhabited Krypton long ago. They were called angels, messengers from Rao. They flew over Krypton, watching over our people, protecting them when they could not protect themselves. It was said there was never a more beautiful creature in the universe and if you were lucky enough to see one, you would cry tears of joy just from the sight. This angel reminded me of you. That's what I feel when I see you."

"Thank you." Alex told her, feeling her heart warm, leaning in to hug her aunt.

"She made me feel so loved." Kara's voice said.

"She is beautiful." Alex admitted to herself and Kara. This was not the Astra they had faced on the beach. This was a woman who would never threaten an innocent child. She was a protector, a warrior, one with warmth that Alex could feel around her.

"Now, let's go to your room. I want to see your drawings and maybe we can draw some more. Then you are going to sing for me. I heard some new melodies while onboard. We should write some lyrics."

Alex felt a sharp sadness sweep over her. "I cannot. I have lessons all day. Today is physics. I am scheduled for ten hours with Kelex."

Astra smiled mischievously. "I have bad news my dear Kara. Kelex isn't operational today. An unfortunate event occurred. Somehow the wiring from his main CPU was pulled and frayed. It will take a repair droid a day to rewire him and even longer to recovery his memory… perhaps several days considering the droid will not have his main memory chip."

Astra reached behind Alex's ear and pulled her hand back, revealing Kelex's chip in her palm.

"So unfortunately, our good friend Kelex will not be able to conduct your lessons today. Now, shall we play?"

Alex stepped away, Kara next to her now and the two of them watched young Kara take Astra's hand with a bright smile, the pair running away laughing.

"She wasn't always a monster. She was..." Kara stopped, her voice cracking. "I wasn't either. It isn't fair."

Still caught up in the memory, Alex absently nodded in agreement. She had seen the young girl's smile in photos gathered from the Fortress but never in person.

The sisters found themselves back on the beach, standing over Astra's dead body. Kara knelt next to the woman, tears flowing freely down her face.

"I forgive you." Kara whispered to her Aunt. "I know you forgive me. I'm so sorry this happened but we never had a choice, did we? I know you loved me. I think you loved me so much it drove you insane. I am remembering what that feels like, to be insane. I couldn't let you win. Non...I know you had to stay. I know Rao forbid you from leaving him. We were both his victims… he was my nightmare and your burden. I killed him though. He can't hurt either of us ever again."

"You never grieved." Alex told her, wrapping her arms around Kara. "You never once let yourself cry over her. Let it out, Kara. It's okay."

Kara broke down, her body shaking while Alex held her tight, her own tears flowing as she felt all of Kara's emotions. The grief was staggering but they held onto each other as always.

Kara wasn't sure how long she stayed in her sister's arms. Despite knowing she was in her own mind she felt the burn in her chest, the nausea, the physical pain that accompanied such profound anguish.

Then she was in a cold room, filled with dead bodies on stretchers.

"What is this?" Kara whispered. "I've never been here."

"No, you haven't. I have something to tell you, show you. Something that needed to wait until the time was right, if it ever was… and now, it's time." Alex told her. "This is the DEO morgue. It's where they brought the bodies before they were burned."

Another memory rushed Kara. She had told her Dad to burn Astra with the rest.

"I shouldn't have done that. I told them to burn her with the others." Kara remembered, horrified. "I shouldn't have had her just thrown in with the others. No matter what she did, what she became, she still loved me. I should have at least prayed for her."

"She was prayed for." Alex told her quietly.

Kara was confused for a moment at the statement until her attention was caught by Alex and Connolly walking into the morgue.

"I need a moment alone with her." Alex told the man. He patted her on the shoulder and walked out.

Alex walked to the stretcher where Astra's body lay. She stared for a long moment at the woman before reaching over and closing the woman's eyes.

"I hate you. You killed humans to try and find Kara. Do you have any idea what that did to her? What that made her feel? She loved you and... I just hate you. You tried to kill my parents, my brother, you wanted to take my sister, bring her to your bastard husband!" Alex's teeth were clenched as she ranted.

She looked up for a moment and took a breath. "I've wished you were dead for so long. I wish I would have been the one to do it. It's not right that she had to. You should have stayed away from her. You should have turned on your husband for her. You should have done what she asked on the phone, killed Non, stopped Myriad, and been there for her, to at least try and explain yourself. Damn you, woman! Do you know what she had to do tonight? Do you have any idea how hurt she will be over this?! For the rest of her life she is going to feel this pain and it's because of you!"

Alex stopped shouting and turned her back on the dead woman. "But you loved her. She said her aunt died on Krypton... Kara told Dad that you were a monster and you could burn with the rest. She said you weren't her aunt that she had loved."

Alex crossed her arms and walked around the room, inspecting the other bodies, including the woman she had killed. She felt nothing looking at the woman's corpse… she should feel something, but this woman attacked her family and Alex couldn't bring herself to care one way or another that she was the one responsible for taking her life.

She made her way back to Astra eventually. "Kara tried to flush the necklace her mother gave her once. I stopped her, took it from her. I did it because I knew one day, she would regret it. So, as much as I hate you, I love her… so I'm doing this for her. I know it is customary for a surviving female relative to pray over the dead. Since she is your niece and I am her sister, I suppose that makes us related, no matter how much I despise you and wish you had never been born."

Alex reached her hand out, stopping over Astra's head and spoke softly in Kryptonese.

" _You have been the sun of our lives. Our prayers will be the sun that lights your way on the journey home. We will remember you in every dawn and await the night we join you in the sky. Rao's will be done."_

Alex stayed silent for a few moments more then turned to leave. Connolly was waiting for her at the door. "What do you want done? Jeremiah said Kara wanted..."

"Kara would regret it, one day." Alex said, cutting him off. "Burn Astra separately and place her ashes in an urn. Keep it at your house. When I can figure out a way to get them to the Fortress, I will place them there. Kara doesn't need to know right now. I will tell her one day, when she is ready, if she ever is."

The two sisters were once again on the beach, this time alone.

"You did that?" Kara asked, deeply moved at her sister's thoughtfulness.

"Yeah." Alex admitted. "I thought one day...I know what she did, what she forced us to do, what she almost did. But I hoped one day, maybe you would forgive her for yourself. One day, maybe you would want... I'm sorry."

Kara pulled Alex into her. "I'm not. Thank you. I love you so much." The two held each other tightly.

"Where is she?" Kara finally asked.

Alex replied, "When we hooked up the transporters, I moved her to the Fortress. I had Kelex construct a subfloor in the Northwest corner. The urn is there."

"Thank you." Kara told her again. "I... I forgive her, I do. I've held onto that hate for too long. It's time to let it go."

The world spun before Kara could have time to process her revelation. Memories assaulted her once again while she tried to place them in chronological order.

To add to the chaos of her own memories returning to her haphazardly, Alex's memories also revealed themselves: the time after Myriad, the relief she felt, the happiness she was experiencing, knowing her enemies were dead, her sister and family were safe and Cameron Chase was in her life. Although Alex's life seemed to be on the upswing, she still sat up at night often, watching Kara mumble in her sleep, waking every time her little sister woke to go to the living room and stare out the window over the National City skyline. Kara felt younger Alex's distress in that she didn't know what was bothering her sister much less how to help her.

Younger Kara on the other hand, felt nothing. The hole inside her that should have been filled after Myriad was still empty, gnawing away at her, leaving her withdrawing into herself. With their merged minds, Alex now realized she had no clue as to how far Kara had pulled away from her nor how lost and depressed her sister had been. The feeling left her nauseous… then the scene changed.

Alex and Kara saw the blonde walk into a bar, a haunted look on her face. The bartender had come to serve her personally at the booth. The dark-skinned woman asked if she was really Kara Zor El.

Kara Zor El was dead she had told the woman. A few moments later Kara took a drink and gasped, Alex feeling it as well. Her skin tingled, her mind went fuzzy and she felt all tension leave her body.

"That tastes so good." Kara admitted. "I got so drunk. I couldn't stop. It made me feel numb. I didn't think about...anything. I just relaxed. Doesn't it taste good?" Kara whispered with longing.

Alex didn't respond, shaking her head and trying desperately to separate her thoughts from her sister's for the first time since they merged. Alex had drunk before but never to the extent Kara had. She had never really understood what it felt like for her little sister, why she would want to drink so much and so often.

"This is when it started." Alex realized, fighting off Kara's renewed desire for alcohol. "You couldn't feel anything, you wanted the dreams to stop, your mind to focus on anything else and this did it for you, didn't it? You became numb."

"I couldn't stop. I didn't want to stop." Kara hesitated, feeling the liquid burning her throat as she watched herself drink. "I still don't want to stop. I used alcohol for the same reason I hurt myself... it made me forget… who I was supposed to be, what was expected of me, what I had done, the things I was still doing. You escaped into Cameron and I escaped into alcohol."

A darkened room, Kara entering through the window, Dick Grayson sitting up in bed, surprised to see her. "Kara? What's wrong?"

The blonde stepped forward and placed a red shining globe on the nightstand. "I need to forget for a while. Can you help me?"

No other words were needed. Alex shook her head, praying she wouldn't have to relieve this memory. Instead of Kara's lust, she felt her little sister's shame and disgust with herself. But once again, she felt the need to forget.

"I kept coming back." Kara told her. "Time and time again, when the alcohol wasn't enough, I kept coming back to him. He was safe. There was no judgement, no pity, no danger. He let me do whatever I wanted… I used him… I used him, and he fell in love with me, didn't he?"

Alex was thoughtful when she answered, carefully watching Kara's reactions. "Yes, but you never once gave him hope you would ever love him in return. You were very upfront about the fact you were using him, and he was so obsessed with you that he believed he could get you to change your mind. I warned him time and again, but he never listened. Then again, neither did you when I told you he wasn't good for you."

Kara nodded, knowing the truth in what Alex was saying as she remembered. She admitted, "I always felt so ashamed afterward. I could never just lie down and sleep with him. I never wanted him to hold me. I just wanted to forget for a while. Alcohol was better, but sometimes I needed more."

Kara sighed as the memory faded. She looked over to Alex, feeling comfort in her sister's understanding gaze. Taking advantage of their closeness in this moment, she asked, "You don't have to answer, but I've wondered, and this seems like a good time to ask but... did you love her? Cameron? Did you really love her or was it just easier because she knew the truth?"

Alex didn't answer her directly, merely closing her eyes shifting the scene once again.

Kara looked around and froze when her mind unlocked the events that were about to unfold. She recognized the place and players involved. "Alex? Why did you bring us here?"

"This is the answer to your question. Just watch." Alex said, taking Kara's hand in hers.

A brutal fight was unfolding in downtown National City. The sisters were surrounded by two enemies. Almeracians. Kara was engaged in combat with Maxima, their Empress, while Alex held off her ally S'kirry, using every weapon in her arsenal.

As Alex was observing this fight, she thought back to Kara's feelings during her fights with Astra and Non. Her sister's strength, her power and rage gave her focus as she channeled every movement and action precisely as she'd been taught. The outcomes of those altercations were a forgone conclusion: the destruction of her enemy. But on this night, something was very wrong. Kara was not as powerful, not as fast, not as steady.

A cold chill ran down her spine when she realized the difference. Everything that happened during that fight and the aftermath became crystal clear. Kara was drunk and Alex had not been aware of it at the time. She had been at Cameron's all night and the two only met when Maxima decided to release the aliens held in the downtown DEO headquarters before traveling to the desert facility.

The fight with Maxima was vicious, with the Empress finally landing several strikes to Kara's eyes. Screaming in rage, Kara flipped the woman over her head, picking her up by the hair and throwing her towards her servant, not seeing her sister was in the way.

Alex felt a sharp stab of pain in her left knee as she watched herself fly into the air when Maxima's body collided with her knees from behind. S'kirry moved towards a now disarmed and disoriented Alex on the ground. She watched her younger self throw her left arm up as she reached with her right hand for the serrated knife she kept tucked in her right boot. Kara appeared suddenly in front of her, grabbing the creature's face and slamming it into the pavement several times, rendering him unconscious. The fight was over when Kara crashed her knee into Maxima's face, shattering the woman's nose as DEO agents mobilized around the fallen foes and contained them.

A frantic Kara ignored them all in her haste to get to her sister's side. "Alex! Are you alright? Don't move, okay? Medic! Get a stretcher over here."

"Kara. relax, I'm fine." Alex said trying to reassure her, sitting up, but the excruciating pain in her knee was too much for her to hide and she hissed when she moved.

"Please be still!" Kara implored her, wringing her hands. "You have a torn tendon in your left knee. Damn it! I should have thought before I threw her! I could have killed you!"

As always, Alex's focus was on Kara, not herself. "I'm fine. Close quarter's combat, it happens. Next time I'll throw someone into you and we can call it even, okay? Relax and help me stand up."

Instead of helping, Kara lifted her older sister in her arms and laid her on a stretcher, Eliza running over to Alex's side.

"Mom, she has a torn tendon in her knee." Kara frantically told Eliza.

Eliza nodded impatiently. "Both of you are hurt. I'll take care of Alex. Your eyes are swelling. Get to your Dad in Med bay one. He is preparing the room for you. I want you under a sunlamp as soon as possible."

Kara stood by and watched Alex being taken into the DEO facility, feeling helpless.

Alex herself felt a great amount of apprehension due to Kara's face, both the injuries and the guilty expression.

After being given a pair of crutches, she walked out hours later to Cameron Chase's car. Her father had told her Kara never did come to get checked out and he was heading to their apartment. Instead of taking her home as Alex instructed, her girlfriend drove toward her own place.

"Cameron, turn around, I need to get home!" Alex said vehemently.

Cameron shook her head. "No, you need to take pressure off your knee. You can stay the night with me so I can make sure you get some rest."

Alex refused to get out of the car, instead saying, "Take me home. Now! I need to see Kara!"

Shutting off the car, Cameron gripped the steering wheel tightly with both hands. "Your Dad is over there with her. Can you relax for a moment? Please? Look, you can call her, check on her but maybe you can stay with me and give me a little peace of mind! I was scared for you! You shouldn't have been fighting an alien that strong by yourself!"

"I was with Kara… we were containing the threat until the DEO finally decided to join the fight, which was pretty much after it ended… and we were right outside the damn building! So, care to explain to me what took you so long?" Alex asked heatedly.

Cameron took a deep breath to calm her nerves and apparently, her temper. "We had to charge the ion nets. They were the only weapons we had strong enough to capture an Almeracians."

"I guess Connolly needs better weapons. Mine did enough damage." Alex stated sarcastically.

Cameron snorted, obviously not amused in the slightest. "Yeah, until your sister threw her opponent into your legs. You are lucky they both aren't shattered. What was with her tonight? If I didn't know better, I would think she was drunk."

Alex stiffened, not liking the accusation at all, mostly because she feared it might be true.

Cameron continued, apparently not noticing her girlfriend's tense posture. "She was swaying every time she took a swing, never used her heat vision, fell back with every shot, hit the ground more times than I have ever seen her, wasn't paying attention..."

Alex exploded on her. "Who are you to judge! Where the hell were you? You aren't dressed in tac gear! You aren't in the field! You were safe in ops, on the monitor… so what gives you the right to criticize her?!"

Alex didn't feel Cameron had any grounds for ever criticizing Kara, she was never in the middle of the fighting, merely coming in with the containment teams afterwards.

Cameron's face darkened, but she didn't say anything obviously not wanting to escalate the argument. Opening the car door, she stepped out and walked around to open Alex's door.

Alex reluctantly allowed her to help her out and took her crutches then began walking down the sidewalk in the opposite direction of the door.

"What are you doing?" Cameron almost shouted in frustration.

"Getting a cab since you won't take me home." Alex replied pointedly.

Cameron grabbed her by the shoulder from behind. "Would you please just stop? I love you and you scared the hell out of me tonight! Can I have a little of your time? Do you love me enough to give me that?"

Alex pulled back, stumbling slightly as she turned to face her girlfriend. "This has nothing to do with you or how I feel about you! I'm fine and I need Kara to see that… to see me. She's going to feel guilty and I need to convince her it's not her fault. Can you understand that?"

Cameron obviously didn't like Alex's lack of an answer as her expression grew darker still. This argument had played out in several different variations over their entire relationship. Pinning Alex with a stare that caused new agents to cower in fear, she said, "Once again, you change the subject back to your sister. You won't answer my question because you don't love me enough, do you? I'm always going to be second, aren't I? Do you even love me at all or am I just convenient because I know all your secrets?"

Kara felt it then, Alex's buried guilt rise to the surface as she watched her younger self having this particular argument with Cameron.

"She was just convenient." Kara realized. She could see it now so plainly... Alex's infatuation with the agent turning into a safety net, a relationship very similar to the one Kara had with Dick. Cameron was an escape from the stresses of her life. A friend with benefits, nothing more.

"I tried." Alex admitted. "I tried to love her. I wanted it to work, I held on so long because I didn't have to lie to her."

"But you never really loved her." Kara said, feeling such profound sadness from her sister.

Alex shook her head. "I told her I did. I thought if I said it enough, that it would be true. I thought living together might have been the answer, but it only drove us further apart. I cared about her, but ultimately, I used her every bit as much as you used Dick. At least you never pretended with him."

The two found themselves in Kara and Alex's old apartment, Kara standing by the window and the feeling of guilt and intoxication greatly startled Alex. Kara had a bottle in her hand, half empty, and was crying. She hadn't even changed out of her costume.

She was so caught up listening to Alex and Cameron arguing miles away that she missed her Dad's approaching heartbeat, taken by surprise when he knocked on the door. Kara moved to the fridge quickly and placed her bottle inside then moved towards the door.

"Your Mom wanted you in a solar bed." he told her by way of greeting, the concern obvious in his voice. "Your right eye is swollen. Have a seat on the couch and let me take a look."

"I'm fine. It will heal in a few more minutes." she told him, walking back to the window. Kara heard Jeremiah sigh, letting her have her space.

"Alex is going to be alright," her father reassured her.

"She has a torn tendon. She will need surgery. I've been listening." Kara said softly, voice cracking slightly.

"You could have stayed at the DEO. You wouldn't have had to listen across the city." he pointed out.

Both girls felt the guilt cut through Kara's younger self. "I threw an enemy into her like an idiot, hurting her. I doubt she wants to see me right now."

"You know that's not true." Jeremiah said, "In fact, I'm surprised she isn't here. Connolly said one of the agents gave her a ride home."

"She...had to make a stop. She is hungry." Kara lied, knowing full well her father would not be happy if he knew where Alex was and who she was with.

The man walked up behind his daughter and placed his arms around her. "What was going on tonight? You didn't look like yourself. You looked dizzy when you first landed, you couldn't dodge any strikes. I'm worried. If you are getting weaker, we need to know. I don't want either of you out there unless you are at one hundred percent. If there is something wrong..."

"I'm sorry, Father. Please don't be upset with me." Kara begged. Kara's sudden spike of fear was strongly felt by both sisters as they observed the exchange.

Jeremiah backed away. "Kara, look at me."

The blonde slowly turned back towards him, not meeting his eyes.

"Since when do you call me father? You have always called me Dad. Kara, I'm not upset with you, or disappointed. I'm worried." Jeremiah's voice carried an undercurrent of concern.

Kara shook her head.

"I'm not Zor El and you know this. What happened was an accident. Alex will have her knee scoped and have to take it easy for a few weeks. She'll be fine. You should rest as well."

"I failed. I hurt Alex." Kara whispered, crossing her arms, retreating into herself.

Jeremiah wrapped her in a hug that was not returned. He stepped back after a second. "Kara, what is that smell?"

Kara said nothing.

"Look me in the eyes." Her father demanded.

The blonde slowly raised her eyes to his.

"I knew he would see it in my eyes." Kara whispered to Alex, watching the scene unfold.

Jeremiah turned from her and moved to the refrigerator. He found the bottle with no problem.

"What is this?" he asked, already knowing the answer.

Kara turned back to the window. "Nothing. It's just something I picked up at this... place. I didn't expect to fight tonight. I thought I could just relax. It was a one-time thing, I swear."

Jeremiah was incensed. "Do you realize how strong this has to be to have an effect on you? How much did you drink?"

Kara shook her head but wouldn't face him. She raised her hands, threading them through her hair and clenching down, frantically trying to expel the images his tone evoked… because at this point all she heard were Zor El's words: Not good enough, too weak, too stupid, always a failure no matter what she did. She could see the disappointment on her father's face as he talked to her mother.

She heard Jeremiah open the trash can lid. Kara was very glad she had hidden the empty bottles under the sink behind the cleaning supplies until trash day.

Hoping she would stop hearing the disappoint in the voice of the man she now considered her father, Kara lied. "Not much, just that bottle. Only half of it. I guess it made me slower than normal. It won't happen again, father, I swear.

"Stop calling me father! I am your Dad, and I love you, more than he ever did. I'm not him, Kara." Jeremiah stared at her a few moments, then said, "I think you need to come to the DEO with me. I want to examine whatever this is that you drank and check you out. If it hurt you, we need to know the long-term effects and maybe it's time we quit all this. Go back to Midvale. The two of you can finish college in Raleigh..."

"It was one time!" Kara shouted. "Half a bottle of some sort of alien whiskey, and it won't happen again, I swear, okay? I'm sorry Alex was hurt! She will be home soon, and I don't want her worrying about this… so, please… just drop it!"

Kara sounded angry but Alex knew better. She knew the feeling of panic that was breaking through even the intoxication.

Throwing up his hands, Jeremiah said, "I'll leave… but don't think this is over. We're having a family meeting and we're going to discuss this. I love you too much to let you do this to yourself."

The two girls watched Jeremiah leave. As soon as he left the building, Kara sent her fist through the table. "Idiot! Worthless idiot!"

The two felt Kara's hopelessness, fear and shame. They both screamed when Kara entered the bathroom and unleashed her heat vision on her arm for the first time in years.

"I hated myself." Kara realized, as the bathroom faded from view. Alex pulled her into a hug, rubbing her back as Kara cried softly.

Kara calmed as she always did with Alex. She knew there was more Alex needed to know, more she herself needed to remember. A nauseous feeling began bubbling in the pit of her stomach as the memory materialized around them.

A dark alley, an orange skinned man with horns and black eyes, stood deep in the shadows.

He jumped when a shadow appeared before him, descending gracefully from the sky. Then the shadow spoke. "You. I've heard that you deal."

The man's black eyes widened as he realized it was Kara Zor El who had just landed in front of him. He backed away quickly. "I don't want trouble! You don't want me to deal, I'm gone okay? Just don't hurt me. I won't ever do it again."

Kara stepped closer to the man and grabbed his shirt collar, forcing him into the wall. "I don't give a damn what you do. I need your help. I need something...something that can affect me enough...when I drink, I'm sluggish. I need something to wake me up, understand? Do you have anything strong enough for me?"

The alien swallowed thickly. "I uh...I got this powder called Freez. I heard some of the Fort Rozz Kryptonians bought it. Before you killed them all I mean. It worked."

"What does it do?" Kara asked.

The man was sweating now as he answered, "It will make you feel better than you ever had in your entire life. You'll be ready to take on the world."

Kara nodded. "How much?"

"$500 a gram..."

"No," Kara interrupted him. "how much do I take?"

"Oh. Usually one gram a line, about an inch long will give you a high for an hour or so, depending on what you are doing." He replied.

Kara smiled slightly. "Good. Give me ten grams."

The alien grinned, "That's $5000. You got a big wallet under that skirt?"

Kara stared at the man for a moment, his smile faded, and he began to squirm at the faint glow that appeared in her eyes.

"Okay! Okay! Here." He frantically reached into his pocket and handed her the orange powder.

"You provide me with what I want, when I want it and I provide you with protection." she told him as she dropped him at her feet.

"Protection from what?" the man asked, now obviously very frightened.

"Me."

The two girls were back in Kara's apartment. Alex was still arguing with Cameron on a sidewalk on the other side of National City while Kara carefully laid out a gram of her new drug on a sheet pf paper.

Both girls were nearly blinded by the rush they felt.

"How did I stop?" Kara whispered, her mind in a haze. "Did I?"

Alex shook her head, fighting off the effects of the drug. "We got through it."

"I quit?" Kara asked frantically, "I quit, right? When I had that press conference, I said..."

"Yeah, you quit." Alex interrupted her. "You were doing good, Kara. You were so strong. I never realized how... how easy it was for you to slip into this. I just don't understand why…"

"Because, I was drunk… I was drunk, you got hurt… and I was the one who hurt you. I was never going to let that happen again." Kara said, as she broke down at the devastated look on Alex's face.

"Alex, it's not your fault… It's mine! You are not responsible for my bad decisions." Kara pleaded, knowing Alex was going to feel guilty anyway.

Alex was shaking her head. "No, I never should have left you, I shouldn't have moved in with Cameron… I should have stayed, protected you… I should have noticed, but I missed it because I wasn't here. We were… no, we are always stronger together and I left you." Alex cried plaintively, "I didn't notice… how did I never notice?"

"Alex, what happened to me is not because of anything you did or didn't do. You didn't notice because I was a very good liar." Kara admitted. "I've had a lot of experience."


	16. Chapter 16

**Do not own DC or CW characters**

 **Chapter 16**

Kara's revelation - that she started taking drugs to offset the effects of the alcohol because she was directly responsible for injuring her - had shaken Alex to her core. No matter what Kara said, the older sister felt solely responsible for giving her the excuse if nothing else. The distress she was feeling was dimmed somewhat when Kara pulled her close, merging with her and moving them into a different memory.

Alex once again found herself wrapped up in her sister's younger self, Kara's presence all around her.

Young Kara was walking through the hospital taking in the voices surrounding her. She always ignored the conversations between families, feeling they had a right to privacy, especially in a place like this. Instead she focused on finding the voices of her children, the ones she regularly visited. She tried to visit hospitals in different cities once a week, but some she kept coming back to more often due to the patients who had little to no family.

One such little girl was in National City Children's Hospital in the cancer ward.

Charity Kallis, age 10, had been a ward of the foster care system since she was 5. Her parents had been killed in a car crash and she had no relative willing to take her. Kara often made random stops to visit her before heading to her apartment after a battle or a save. The girl's foster parents stayed with her for the most part but in Kara's opinion, Char, as she liked to be called, was alone too often with only the nurses for company.

Though Kara generally preferred to enter incognito, dressed in her normal civilian attire, she had learned the ins and outs of this hospital and passages from the roof to evade most eyes. The parents on the floor were used to her sudden appearances and never said a word to the media to bring attention to her. The blonde realized that no matter her desire, she could not see every sick child in the world. Her self-imposed duties to save others, plus the college classes Jeremiah insisted she continue, cut significantly into her time.

Seeing the memory as Kara relived it, Alex couldn't fathom why they were there. She knew Kara visited sick kids, but why was this memory so important? Was it just representative of Kara's hospital visits?

Fully merged with her sister's consciousness, Kara could feel Alex's confusion and hoped she could convey why she had brought them here. "Alex, I won't lie to you. When you were injured… when I caused your injury because I was drunk, the guilt I felt was tremendous. But instead of getting help, I chose to use drugs to quickly offset my intoxication when I needed to. Me being the reason you were injured was the final straw in me making that poor decision, but it was not the only reason. I almost sought them out after … this…"

Alex immediately sensed her sister's turmoil. As always, when Kara needed her, Alex's own troubles, fears and anxiety took a back seat. "I'm here, we're together. We can lock this memory away if you want…"

"No! You need to know. I can't stop you from feeling guilty, but you are in no way responsible and this is the only way I know to help you … for you to see you couldn't have stopped me no matter what you did." Kara was adamant so Alex stopped pushing and settled in to watch as young Kara continued to move down the hospital corridor.

"Supergirl, a word?" the head nurse asked, tapping her on the shoulder.

Kara stopped and walked into a mostly empty hallway. "What's up, Sally?" she whispered.

"It's Charity. She had surgery two weeks ago..."

"I know. How is she?" Kara did not have Justin monitor the children's records though she easily could. She felt things like that were best kept private.

Sally hesitated before replying, "The surgery...wasn't successful. The tumors have spread, some were not able to be removed without killing her. Afterward she developed an infection and with her immune system already weakened from radiation and chemo..."

"There is nothing you can do, is there?" Kara realized.

The nurse shook her head. "I'm really glad you came. I thought of calling Cat Grant but... Kara, she doesn't have much time. Perhaps no longer than tonight.

Kara nodded her head, fighting back tears. "Her foster parents are with her? I didn't hear them in her room. Should I talk to them?"

Sally's face took on a look of anger before she schooled herself. It was brief but nothing was too fast for Kara to catch, not bullets or facial expressions. "Her foster parents… after she was diagnosed as terminal, she became a ward of the state once more. The couple have three other children..."

"And they abandoned her." Kara finished. "How long since she has seen them? Have they spoken to her since the surgery?"

The silence was all the answer she needed. "Has anyone told her?"

"She knows." Sally confirmed. "A counselor and I have spoken to her."

Kara was grief-stricken. "I could have been there! Why didn't you call Cat? She would have let me know!"

Sally shook her head and looked to the floor. "Because every time this happens, you die too. I've watched you… seen it too many times, Kara. You can't keep doing this. The kids love seeing you, but your presence for all these deaths is too much for anyone to handle, even the girl of steel. Our nurses go to counseling to deal with this. They are older, some have decades in the medical field and seeing this happen over and over, it gets to all of us... this is becoming too much for you."

Kara said nothing, instead making her way to Charity's room, Sally hurrying to catch up.

Kara was heartbroken when she saw the girl. Since her last visit, Char had grown her hair out a bit but lost at least twenty pounds off her already thin frame. She looked gaunt and her eyes were hollow.

Yet those same eyes brightened when she saw Kara. "Kara! You wore your suit!"

The blonde pulled a chair up to the bed and took the girl's tiny, cold hand. "Yeah, I just came from a big forest in France. I wanted to see you. I'm sorry I haven't been by to visit more."

The little girl shrugged. "It's okay. I've been watching you on the TV. Did you fight a bad guy in France? I thought all France had was the Eiffel Tower and that big museum."

Kara forced a smile on her face. "No bad guy. There are a lot of trees in France. Some of the forests are hard to get around if you have to walk. A small plane had trouble staying in the air and crashed in a place that was hard to get to or even see them. I had to go help those people."

"Did you save them?" Char asked quietly.

Kara never considered telling her the truth, that she had found the smoking wreckage with nothing but bodies in the surrounding areas. The only thing she had been able to do was fly the bodies to the search and rescue team on a road twenty miles away.

"I helped them get home." Kara sat in silence, watching every detail of the girl's face, afraid to use her x-ray vision on Char, scared of what she already knew she would see. Char was laying with her eyes closed now, her breathing labored and fighting to stay awake.

"Kara?" the girl whispered after a brief nap.

"I'm here. I'm not going anywhere." the blonde assured her.

"I am. I can feel it," Char said softly.

Kara closed her eyes, schooled her face then took a look at the monitors. Char's vitals were falling. Sally must have noticed from her station because she appeared in the door.

"Char..." Kara started, then stopped, realizing she had no words.

"It's okay. I'm going to see Mommy and Daddy in Heaven." Char whispered knowingly. "Kara, I want you...would you fly me there?"

Kara felt like a knife had been twisted in her gut. She looked back at Sally who was in the doorway. The nurse shrugged her shoulders and nodded. Kara got the message. It was too late, and the girl had an hour at most, maybe minutes.

The blonde stood up and unclasped her cape.

"Are you sure?" Sally whispered, realizing what Kara planned to do.

"Clear the halls so I can get to the roof unseen." the blonde answered.

A few minutes later the nurse, Kara and Char were on the roof, the little girl wrapped warmly in Kara's cape, once one of two blankets she had used to keep Kal El warm when they first landed.

"Are you ready?" Kara asked the little girl who was grinning. She nodded her head and Kara began to slowly levitate from the roof, rising into the night sky. She hovered fifty feet over the roof and stopped, tilting the girl up in her arms so she could take in the city lights and the stars above.

"It's beautiful." Char whispered.

"Yes, it is." the blonde said, looking closely at the girl in her arms.

"So, this is what flying is like? You do this all the time, huh?" The young girl's quiet voice held such amazement.

Kara nodded and quietly replied, "Yeah, but you should have seen me the first time I flew. I got stuck in the air and couldn't get down. I was only a few years older than you are now," she admitted, getting a quiet laugh from the child.

"Do you think I will be able to fly in Heaven?"

Kara held the girl closer, seeing a peaceful look settle on her young friend's face. "I know you will."

The two stayed still in the air until Kara heard the young girl's heart stop beating.

Slowly she dropped back to the roof where Sally stood waiting with a stretcher. She shook her head, tears frozen in her eyes. "I'll carry her back to the room. Contact Cat. She will make the funeral arrangements."

"The State..." Sally began to say before Kara interrupted her, shaking her head. "No, she will get a proper burial alongside her parents. Cat will make it happen. Tell her Kara said so... and I'll be there. Does she have any other family?"

The nurse shook her head.

So, it was three days later that Kara stood in a cemetery with only three nurses, Cat Grant and the priest she had known since her first year in National City conducting the rites while the little girl was laid to rest next to her parents.

After turning down a ride from Cat Grant, Kara sat on a stone bench as the coffin was lowered. The Priest walked over and sat next to her. "How have you been?"

Kara didn't answer, trying to feel anything but the sorrow that was weighing her down. Staring at her young friend's grave, she said, "You told me once to figure out what I believe in, to hold on to it. I think I finally figure out what I believe."

"May I ask?" The priest's voice was comforting, but Kara was past being comforted.

"You won't like the answer. I believe there is a high power. I think it must be a man, because this higher power reminds me of the Joker. I believe that it is pure evil, and we are here for its sick amusement. It's like one of those Sim games. He creates us and then sits back to enjoy the show, no matter how sick it is. You and I are just toys."

She looked at him. "You are a good man. You should find another job."

Kara walked away, taking her time traversing the five miles to the only bar that could satisfy her needs. She had a bracelet in her handbag but felt no need to use it at one of the human bars she passed. She didn't want an easy out.

Instead she walked into the mostly empty alien bar at three PM and stayed through the night until she passed out, barely remembering the sight and feel of green arms lifting her up from her booth to take her home.

"How could you keep going back? Why? So much pain." Alex mumbled, a deep depression engulfing her followed by the memory of slipping into an alcohol induced haze once again.

"Somebody had to be there." Kara whispered. "No one else cared."

Knowing this was but one of Kara's memories of similar losses, Alex understood that she couldn't have stopped her sister, but it didn't alleviate the guilt she felt for not seeing the whole picture soon enough to prevent what she knew they would soon be reliving.

When Kara moved to a different memory, Alex found herself standing next to her sister this time, seeing the blonde's younger self sitting in the cell that Arkham called a counseling room. She was wearing a pink hoodie with the hood drawn over her head. Some maniacs were forced to come every day to this bare room to be studied and for some sort of counseling that would never work. Others did not come, deemed too dangerous to even be allowed out of their cells.

"Why are we at Arkham?" Alex asked, this time more curious than disturbed.

"I'm not sure, but given the path my mind is taking us, it can't be good." Kara replied.

The door opened and a pale man with a shaved head and scars on both sides of his mouth was brought in wearing handcuffs, leg irons with a gun pressed to the back of his head by a very tense guard.

"A little bit casual for a psychiatrist, even for this place. Are you the next young woman who thinks she can figure out what makes the Joker tick?" the maniac cackled, obviously believing she was another groupie he could turn into a monster.

Kara smiled wickedly and looked up at the man, brushing the hood off her head. "Hi."

The surprise on the Joker's face was easy to read. Without his makeup, he was just a pathetic, scarred man, not intimidating in the least... but he tried to be. "So, it's you. Care to carry on our conversation from last time? Compare notes? I'm afraid I don't have any recent stories to tell."

Kara shook her head and the grin was gone. "You won't have any stories after today. Today, I am going to make you feel something you haven't felt in a very long time. Fear. Fear is a constant companion of mine along with anger. You said we were the same the last time we met, but I'm not really sure. If I feel fear it seems only right that you should as well. So today, I'm going to kill you."

The man sat back with a creepy grin. "Now that sounds like fun. How are we doing this? You going to rip my arms off? Snapping my neck is too tame for you. Maybe burn me to ash? Now that could be fun. I still wouldn't fear you. I'm not afraid of death, the same as you."

Kara shook her head, knowing she had his undivided attention. "You are going to be afraid of this death. See I plan to make it quick. No pain at all. I talked to the Warden, not a big fan of yours by the way and we have it all worked out. I'm going to permanently end you in the worst way possible. See, after I snap your neck, I'm going to burn your tissues and then crush your bones so the Janitor can sweep you into a dustpan. Once that is done, the Warden is going to make an announcement to the press. You had a stroke and passed away quietly. Your body was cremated immediately afterward. He will then release a statement to the press, informing the public that you had been diagnosed with severe schizophrenia."

"I'm not crazy." the man quickly told her.

"Probably not. I've come to believe that you are just pure evil. You are what you say you are, a man with no limits, who lives outside of the rules. The big difference between me and you is hundreds of years from now, I'll be in the history books and you will be forgotten. Once you are gone, quietly of course, the public will forget about you. As a symbol of ultimate evil, they feared you. As just a crazy serial killer who died from a stroke, you will become yesterday's news. As the world moves on without you, new killers, new villains will appear. Maybe some news reports will compare them to you, but eventually people will completely forget about you. No one will fear your name or face. You will just be...forgotten. That's the difference between you and me. I'll never be forgotten. Are you ready to die? Want to take a moment to catch your breath, take your last one?"

Kara watched him closely. He was no longer smiling nor scowling. His eyes began to dart around the room. Then she saw it.

"Fear." Kara said with satisfaction. "That look of fear. It's why I came. What would be the only thing that could make someone like you afraid. I've sat up many nights thinking about it. Killing you would be too easy. It would give you what you want. Supergirl kills the Joker. Our names would be forever attached along with Batman. You would be a footnote to my legend. But to be forgotten? To be shrugged off by the people, just another lunatic gone for good, that scares the hell out of you, doesn't it? I can see it on your face, in your eyes. Your heart is beating quicker, your breathing becoming panicked. You are sweating and I bet it feels cold, right?"

The man said nothing, nor did he need to.

Kara stood up and walked behind him, placing his face on the desk gently, strong enough in her grip that he was unable to move his torso. She pulled a weapon resembling a gun from the pocket of her hoodie.

"This little beauty is what I lovingly call Peacemaker. I always loved Val Kilmer in Tombstone. Ever seen it? Probably not. Anyway, I've never used this weapon before. It's probably gonna sting a little bit."

To her amusement the man begged. "Please don't kill me like this."

Kara pulled the trigger. Instead of the roar of a gun blast, it simply hissed as the needle from the barrel broke into the back of the Joker's skull causing the man to let out a sharp scream. The blonde let go of his head and had a seat back in her chair.

After a few moments the Joker raised his head and looked at her, eyes wide, the fear etched across his face. She reveled in it. "There is now a small bomb planted at the base of your skull. It's very tiny, smaller than a pearl. It's an amazing little device I made in my free time. The bomb has a GPS in it, meaning I can track your movements anywhere in the galaxy. My supercomputer you asked about last time? It will be keeping track of you. If you step out of this building, you die immediately, painlessly. I have the Warden's word that you will be dragged back inside to the mortuary where the plan I just explained to you will be completed. And I promise… you will be forgotten by history. You are going to be a nobody. Nothing special, just another crazy murderer among thousands, perhaps the hundreds of thousands of the next century. Enjoy the rest of your life here, knowing it has already begun. No one will fear your name, ever again. You will live knowing no one remembers you, a nobody… lost to time."

Kara and Alex watched as young Kara walked out of Arkham satisfied. They felt the darkness in her, the same darkness she drew from when she fought. This time not one punch or blast of heat vision was needed. Kara had defeated him for good and that gave her a sense of giddiness she had not felt in a long while.

Alex knew then why Kara's subconscious had brought them here. What she had done to the Joker, while greatly deserved, showed another level of how she coped with loss. Her mind had engineered a foolproof way to control those who were uncontrollable… one more way for her to exercise her demons when the world wouldn't let her kill them. Figuring out the Joker's true fear and then using his own brand of psychological manipulation was one more step down the path of Kara losing another part of herself and spiraling ever further down into the bottomless hole she could never fill.

She felt her sister's remorse as the scene faded out to only the two of them, but Alex sensed her satisfaction too. Looking at her sister, she was surprised to see Kara watching her closely, her eyes showing her concern.

Alex chose to try and lighten the mood a little. "Well, this probably wasn't a mentally healthy approach to take, but it was very effective… it's not like he doesn't deserve it."

Kara smiled slightly, but it was tinged with regret. "Yes, but it shows how much I had quit listening to other people, I no longer cared what anyone thought. This was my way to stick it to Bruce for him not letting me kill the bastard all those times. He wasn't happy I'd done it either."

Her voice dropped a couple of octaves and took on an approximation of the dark knight's tone. "Kara, you can't be judge, jury and executioner! It's not what we do!"

Alex grinned as Kara resumed her normal speaking voice. "Regardless, he couldn't argue against what I did because I technically followed our agreement." She sighed, her face taking on a thoughtful look.

"I have another memory, it kinda shows the same attitude, but you might find it a little funny from my perspective. You were there for part of it." She genuinely smiled at Alex as she shifted them into the memory.

They found themselves standing outside the DEO's desert facility, observing as young Kara landed forcefully, causing the ground to shake around her. She normally would have ignored this summons but being bored at work and with no one needing saving, she felt she could indulge her curiosity.

Surrounded by her sister, her DEO friends and other agents along with quite a few Army grunts were Lucy Lane and her Daddy, Samuel Lane. While Connolly's call amused the both of them, he thought her presence may give them a heads up on whatever Lane was trying to cook up.

"Lane, what do you want?" She asked, shoulders back, head held high.

Instead of answering, the smug bastard looked at his daughter. She handed Kara a sheet of paper. Kara looked it over then looked up at the General, heat vision simmering behind cold, blue eyes. The younger Lane stepped back quickly.

"A Presidential order? I'm a citizen of the UN, Lane. I don't take orders from you, or Marsdin. Furthermore, I am certain Marsdin did not sign this because she knows better. She's smart… unlike you. But just to satisfy my curiosity, we'll verify your story."

Kara handed the order to Connolly without ever taking her eyes off the General. "Did you seriously waste my time just to see if I would obey some pathetic, trumped-up military order of yours?"

The man shrugged off his nervous look and stood straighter. "You...you do have a residence in the US, correct? Supergirl may be a citizen of the world but..."

He stopped speaking when Supergirl lifted him by his throat off the ground. "There are no 'buts'… I don't answer to you … and you are wasting my time."

The DEO agents around her eyed Lane's soldiers who were looking around at each other, obviously not knowing what to do. Lucy had backed away from her father quickly, but no one else moved.

Kara dropped the General to the ground and looked towards his daughter. "You, short stuff, you are his secretary, right? Any reason I shouldn't fly him to the White House and asked Olivia why he is falsifying her name on documents? That's probably against a few laws. You went to law school before you became his secretary, right? As a matter of fact, let's call her right now."

Kara pulled out her phone and pulled up the President's personal number and was about the hit the call button when Lucy shakily stepped up to her. "We...we have a new anti-insurgency device, weapon I mean. We were hoping you would agree to help us test it."

Kara laughed, beginning to think playing catch the ball with Streaky would have been a better use of her time. "You hoped I would help by presenting me with a falsified Presidential order. Anti-Insurgency? Anti-alien you mean. Is this the Red Tornado project your Daddy has used billions of taxpayers' dollars on without Congressional oversight?

"How do you know about Red Tornado?" Lane asked, standing from the ground, trying his best to use anger to hide the fear.

"Oh, Sammy… I know everything. There is nothing you can hide from me. This weapon, this android, is pathetic. It's just a machine." She sighed dramatically, then rolled her eyes. "Ok, fine. Bring it out. I see it standing in its little red box. You want me to fight it? I'll fight it."

"Then tomorrow at noon..." Lane began.

"No. Right now. The aliens won't set up a time and date for you to fight. You called me here, you wasted my time, now bring me your toy robot." The glee in her voice and the sadistic look on her face showed the two observers exactly what Kara's mindset was as she taunted the pathetic excuse for a human who thought he was able to dictate to or control her in any way.

Kara and Alex watched as she playfully toyed with the robot. Fifteen minutes went by before the Red Tornado unleashed a vortex of wind with the power of an F5 tornado at her.

She stood in place, eyes glowing to burn the dust from them, mouth closed to keep the dirt out.

The creature, having no effect on her, moved forward. Kara caught its metallic fist with her own, crushing it. A dose of freeze breath over the machine followed by a punch to the chest and Samuel Lane's little toy was in tiny pieces on the ground.

Young Kara laughed. "I could have used heat vision to evaporate it in seconds, perhaps just melt it into sludge. The vortex idea was dumb. I know you have seen me stand inside tornados more powerful. Or did you think it would hamper my flight abilities?"

"You just destroyed billions of dollars of..." Lane shouted before Kara picked him up by his arms, flew him away from his men and dropped him roughly to the ground.

Kara's face took on a thoughtful look as she gazed down at the shaken General. "You are a truly pathetic man. Cadmus? What a joke. I guess Lex and Max will have a good laugh at your expense at the next meeting. A robot? I understand Amanda Waller wants to plant a nuclear bomb in a small isolated town to lure me in and detonate it on my arrival. Petersburg, Kentucky, right? Population 4,123. You are ready to sacrifice all those lives, just to have a shot at killing me. Let me guess, lives have to be lost for the greater good."

Lane nodded, scrambling to his feet. "You evil bitch. You are the greatest threat to mankind..."

"No, I'm not." Kara stopped him. "At the moment, you and your buddies are… at least to the 4,123 people living in Petersburg, Kentucky."

Lane's face was turning such a deep shade of purple, Kara wondered if he'd die from a stroke on the spot. Staring smugly at the apoplectic man, she continued, "If I wanted to take over this planet, which is light years behind the rest of the universe in technology, I would have already. There are planets that would invade and take the Earth's resources, exterminating humanity to make way for their own empire to grow. I'm the only thing that keeps them from doing so. Sometimes the world doesn't need heroes. Sometimes it needs bad guys to stand up to the really bad guys. I am what I have to be. Stop wasting time and innocent lives trying to figure out some way to kill me. Just send a 'thank you' card to Catco or the Daily Planet. Send it to your first born who hates you. I talk about you with her often. She thinks you are scum. Hard to disagree."

Kara prepared to fly off.

"We will never stop!" Lane yelled.

The blonde turned back to the General. "Fine. I have an offer for you. No need to kill innocents, your own people, those you have sworn to protect. Place a bomb at a testing facility. I'll even sit on the thing. I doubt it will kill me, but it might. There is only one condition."

"What would that be?" the man asked warily.

"Lucy has to be sitting beside me. It's for the greater good, right? Over 4,000 lives are worth wasting for a shot to kill me. I'm making it easier and a lot more palatable for your number crunchers. Only one has to die, the one daughter that still loves you. Do we have an agreement?"

The look on the General's face told her what she had already known.

"Hypocrite. You know nothing of the greater good. If you waste my time again, I'll permanently disfigure and disable your daughter. We understand each other?" Kara took his silence as agreement and flew away, leaving the man in the desert four miles from his men.

The two sisters suddenly found themselves alone in the desert.

Alex whistled, then quietly laughed, shaking her head. "Well, you effectively punctured his pompous ass. You figured out Lane's weakness, just like you did with Joker… toying and manipulating both, putting them right where you wanted them. I don't know why you think this shows you in a bad light… I don't think you did anything wrong in either case… especially considering what I did to Lane."

Kara's face scrunched up at her sister's last few words, confused. "I don't… what did you mean? What did you do to him?"

Alex froze, mentally kicking herself for not censoring her comments, unsure how to answer, knowing she couldn't lie to Kara, not while their minds were merged. She straightened her back, holding herself still, her eyes meeting Kara's. Taking a deep breath, she replied, "I murdered him."

 **Fortress of Solitude**

"Oh, dear." Kelex said in the quiet room with only the Danvers as his company.

"What's going on?" Eliza asked immediately, turning towards the monitors. "I don't see a change in their brainwaves. It's been over 12 hours since that spike..."

"It's Connolly." Kelex explained, calming Eliza. "He has been calling multiple lines in an attempt to speak to Alex. He has probably figured out she is not at work, nor are the two of you. I have no doubt he will be looking for Clark next and discover the boy missed school. The man usually calls once a week to check on her so I should probably take this."

To the Danvers' surprise Kelex answered in a perfect replication of Alex's voice. "What's up?"

Kelex had set the call so Connolly could be heard by the others in the room, but Connolly could only hear him.

The man's voice sounded a little worried. "I thought I would give you a few days after the anniversary, but I couldn't find you anywhere. No one is answering at your parents' home either. Are you okay?"

"When am I ever okay?" Kelex asked.

"Good point." The family heard him sigh in resignation. "You weren't answering your phone and I was worried. I thought you were done with Cadmus cells. You find another one?"

Kelex answered doing a brilliant impersonation of Alex when she's irritated. "If I did, I would call you with the location of the bodies. The last one was it. I cut Hardcastle's head off and left a sword in his chest."

At this revelation, Jeremiah and Eliza gasped in shock, while Clark just stared wide-eyed.

His voice tinged with exasperation and concern, Connolly replied, "Going alone… Alex, couldn't you at least let me, or someone know, 'Hey, I'm going hunting and I'll be here in case I need backup'? I agreed to stay out of it but c'mon kid, I'm worried. You left 52 bodies at the last site. All it would have taken is one person to get a lucky shot. I promised I wouldn't bother you with your personal massacre but a heads-up maybe?"

"Like I said, I'm done. All of them are dead. No more threats at this time. If something new comes up, I will let you know." Kelex replied.

There was silence on the speaker for a moment, then a sigh. "I know the anniversary was tough on you. How you been doing? Really?"

Kelex was silent for a moment, going through thousands of possible answers.

"I'm fine," the robot deciding outright lying was his best option. "Nothing has changed, at least not yet."

"Still watching the sun, huh?" the man asked.

Kelex ramped up his 'irritable Alex' voice to her 'Alex getting angry' voice. "I thought we agreed not to talk about it. I believe what I believe, and you believe what you believe. She will come back to me. I don't want to have this argument again… at least not on the phone where I can't hit you."

"I'm sorry Alex. We did agree." Connolly apologized. "How are your parents doing? Are you still mad that they... um…"

"That they, what? Left me alone when I asked for help? Refused to believe there was a chance she was alive and help me prepare for her return, formulate a plan to find her and get her out of the sun? Is that what you want to know?" Kelex was in full-blown 'angry Alex' mode now. He wasn't so sure it wasn't his own feelings he was projecting either, a thought he filed away to ponder later. "I needed a lot of people's help and have gotten nothing but pitying looks from my friends and family who think I am holding on for no reason and are waiting for me to lose my mind."

Connolly's tone was now cautious. "So… still mad then. You haven't completely cut yourself off, have you?"

Kelex now entered his 'Alex clenching her teeth to avoid cussing the man out' voice. "I told you before, we work together, we eat Sunday dinner and I go to every event Clark is a part of. What else do you want from me? Between Cadmus, finding Kara, helping the CDC and being part of a family that thinks I'm insane, I have been doing fine. I haven't cut anyone off."

"But Cadmus is over, right?" Connolly was pushing now and Kelex was getting angry on Alex's behalf.

"I hope so. I would hate to think I wasted Kara's sword if there was one more out there."

"So, maybe you could take a vacation?" Connolly asked tentatively. "Come hang out with me and Jess for a few days. How long is it since you have been here? You don't have to be in the Fortress for Kelex to monitor the sun. There are some great camping areas outside the city."

"I'm busy." Kelex told him shortly. "I just told you how full my life is. Just because Cadmus is dead does not mean I don't have other responsibilities. I don't have time to take vacations."

Connolly backed down immediately. "Sorry. Just an offer. I'll let you go... umm, you aren't still thinking about that crazy plan with the Phantom Zone, are you?"

Kelex sighed in an eerily similar fashion as Alex. "I have to find her first. It's a last option and I haven't determined how to send a projector into the core of the sun, then track her from the Phantom Zone, and then guide her back to the Fortress. I don't have the technology yet. Once I do, when I find her, I will create the tech if it is the only option."

Connolly's breath exploded over the speaker as he exclaimed, "Alex, God knows I'm no scientist but opening up a rip in the core of the sun to suck Kara up all so you can go into this endless, timeless void and find her... part of the sun is going to go with her too. How do you know it's safe...for Earth? For the solar system? Seems taking a part of the sun out might start a chain reaction that could be... bad?"

"Like you said, you aren't a scientist. It's a work in progress. I'll figure it out… and you know how smart Kelex is. If anyone can pull this off we can. I would bet he is smarter than a Coluan, easily. Probably makes those green idiots look like fools. Seriously, he is the best AI in existence. I don't know what I would do without him and his calm, all knowing, wise..." Kelex stopped speaking, realizing Alex probably wouldn't have gone that far. "Regardless I can handle it. I don't want to talk about it anymore."

Connolly sighed. "Yeah, okay. If you need anything, you know I'm here, right?"

Kelex began to dismiss him once again but stopped, seeing an opportunity. "There is something you can do for me."

"Name it, as long as it doesn't involve sucking up the core of the sun into a timeless void." Connolly replied with the utmost sincerity.

"Stop being such a baby. It's a big core." Kelex told him, perfectly matching the tone Alex used when she was annoyed. "I want you to find Dante Youngblood. Bring him back to civilization. You can find him if you want to."

"I don't want to." Connolly said immediately.

"I want you to."

"Alex, what he did..."

"Was the same thing you did. He turned Kara into a killer, the same as you did for me. It isn't right that he has isolated himself from the world over misplaced guilt. We did what we had to do and the two of you helped us, shaped us. You have Jessica, you have your friends. He has no one any longer. Find him and bring him back to Metropolis. He needs you and your brothers. You asked and this is what I want."

Nothing was said for a moment before the man finally gave in. "Fine. Any particular reason for this? You haven't given a damn about Dante since Kara died... disappeared."

Kelex replied using Alex's command tone. "I still don't give much of a damn, but just do it, okay? Kara wouldn't want him to be alone, no matter what happened in the past. I'm not saying I want him over for family dinner. Just find him and bring him back to his friends."

Connolly was silent, then sighed. "Okay. Anything else?"

"No... just take care of yourself, okay?" Kelex softened his tone as he knew Alex would do. She sincerely loved the man as a mentor and true friend.

"Just try not to destroy the sun, okay?" Connolly's tone was filled with the fondness Kelex knew he felt for his young protégé.

The call ended and Kelex looked at the three surrounding him. They had finally taken their eyes off Kara and Alex and were staring at him, stunned expressions on each face. "What?"

"Dude, how many times have I talked to Alex on the phone and it's really been you? You even speak like her." Clark asked, his voice full of awe.

"Never. I have never replicated her voice when speaking to any of you." he answered them honestly. "I have dealt with the CDC at times when Alex was on her... excursions and could not be disturbed."

"She thinks we abandoned her." Jeremiah finally realized the truth of what his and Eliza's feud with their eldest daughter was truly about… and he had no idea how they could fix it.

"We did." Eliza admitted, tears forming in her eyes. "We failed her… we should have helped. She was alone, trying to figure this out."

"She wasn't alone… she had me." Kelex told her. "You should know, Jeremiah, we used your extensive research on Kara's DNA to build a tracer system to first find her and then to track her whereabouts. It would have taken much longer without your knowledge of her physiology."

"These plans the two of you came up with, the Phantom Zone…" Eliza realized, fear lacing her words, "She wanted to send Kara to the Phantom Zone and go in after her? She could have been lost forever!"

Kelex shrugged his shoulders. "I pointed this out to Alex. It was a possibility. She didn't give a damn. Her words, not mine. She would risk anything for Kara, you know this."

Waiting a moment for them to absorb this unsettling fact, he continued. "We estimated once we had pulled Kara into the Phantom Zone, we would use the tracer system to track her by her DNA. The Phantom Zone may be a timeless void, but matter does exist. If it didn't, Indigo would have never been able to activate Kara's pod and allow an escape. We believed if we could determine her exact position in the sun and found a metal that could survive the sun long enough to activate the projector, the damage to the star would be minimal. At that point it would be possible for Alex to go into the Phantom Zone and bring her out, using our projector in the Fortress as a beacon to arrive minutes later."

"Or years later." Jeremiah pointed out, obviously very shaken, even showing some anger, most likely at Alex's willingness to risk her life on a half-assed plan.

"I never said we had perfected the plan, or no risk was involved." Kelex said, responding to the dark scowl on Jeremiah's face. "It would most likely have taken years. Regardless, that was our plan of last resort. The one we favored was to use a crystal to send and open a Rann Transporter if only for a second. We thought of having her land on Mars. Any solar energy brought over would no doubt scorch the entire planet but as Kara has always been fond of saying, 'It's just White Martians. They don't count'. Once she was on Mars... well, we hadn't gotten that far. We hoped to contact Lobo to install one on Mars that led here to the Fortress. But, before any of these prototypes could be built, we needed to find the right metal, tools to manipulate it and Kara's exact location. Unfortunately, we had none of those, but the search continued."

Eliza shook her head, not believing how much thought Alex had put into this. The mother assumed Alex was just watching the sun for unusual activity and monitoring it for flying objects launched towards Earth.

"Kelex," Clark asked hesitantly, "Connolly said Alex took out Cadmus. How many... how many people did she kill?"

"408 in six months. In addition, she saved 1,326 aliens who were being held captive and experimented on or tortured by the organization."

No one said a word before Jeremiah cleared his throat. "408 people?" He knew his daughter had killed those she found at Cadmus locations but hearing the exact number floored him.

"Yes, 408 people who would have attempted to kill Clark at some point in the future. She saved 1,326 sentient life forms, taken against their will and put through what had always been Kara's worst nightmare."

"These plans... one could have literally caused the sun to implode on itself..." Eliza started, switching the subject back, obviously having great trouble reconciling everything she was now learning about her daughter.

"We had protocols to get the family out of the solar system quickly with enough time to spare. The risk was minimal regardless. It would have been mostly solar energy that was easily replaced by the constant reactions in the core. Unlike Jor El, I know what I am doing. Jor El tried to continuously harness and use Rao's radiation. Our plan would have just been misplacing a tiny amount, no more than is emitted during normal solar storms. The transporter idea was risky in that sending solar energy of that concentration to a planet would have possibly scorched the planet of all life. It was why we chose Mars… after all, the best White Martian is a dead White Martian." Kelex said without remorse.

He turned back to the monitors, continuing his vigil over Kara and Alex, effectively shutting down the conversation.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Do not own any DC or CW characters.

Alex held her breath as she watched Kara's face closely after her admission that she had murdered General Samuel Lane. Instead of shock, she only saw confusion as Kara opened her mouth, then shut it again, as she stared at her sister.

Alex wasn't sure what to make of Kara's silence and blank face. "What are you thinking? Are you upset?"

Kara shook her head. "No, I just… I can't unlock that memory… why can't I remember?"

Alex sighed, almost relieved knowing Kara wasn't alarmed she had killed Lane, just confused as to why she couldn't recall the memory. "Because you weren't there. It happened when you were… away."

"Oh, ok." Now, it was Kara's turn to sigh with understanding. "Would you, umm… will you show me?"

Alex knew her sister wanted to know what had happened to her during that year, but she wasn't ready to share any of that unrestrained rage with Kara yet. She was worried about Kara's reaction to learning how much anger Alex truly possessed. They still had too much to work through with Kara's memories first.

She sighed, changing the subject. "I know you want to know, but I'm honestly not sure how the hell this is working. I think we are just along for the ride. It's like an avalanche I can't control. Can you? Control it, I mean?"

Kara shook her head slightly, already knowing the answer. To this point she had no real control at all. She was able to show the good memories she had of Astra but could not stop nor unlock any of the thousands of memories crashing into her, both Alex's and her own.

Suddenly, the feel of increased darkness rushed the two, the same feeling that accompanied every one of Kara and Alex's most traumatic memories, she was nearly unable to get her bearings. She already knew what it was like to fly at incredible speeds, but this was different. The speed did not bother her. Instead it was what she heard, the dripping of gasoline from far away, the moans of a mother, the screams of a child... and the sizzle of electricity.

 _Not this time_ , kept repeating in their head. Adrenalin, fear, so much fear, but the constant mantra stayed in their head. _Not this time._

It couldn't have been more than thirty seconds before the two sharing Kara's body in the memory were near the wreck. The girls saw the gasoline leaking to the live wire on the ground, the doors of the car jammed due to the front end of the car being driven into the knocked down power pole.

Young Kara's mind was processing possible courses of action rapidly.

Freeze the gas, absolute zero. Grab the line then dive away from the car. It will electrocute me, but I've been through that before.

Use my cape to grab the end of power line?

Pick up the car and fly. No, may risk further injury or explosion if metal sparks. Rip roof, pull out... they are seat belted in. Don't have time to unbuckle, rip seats from car? Not enough time for both seats. Dive on power line.

Ok, Freeze the gasoline it is, don't need absolute zero, -40 to – 70 C … should be easy. Hurry, hurry, hurry, not again, not this time, not again.

Kara screamed when she landed a few feet in front of the car and it exploded.

The rush of heat, the deafening sound of the explosion, the metal hitting her and falling harmlessly away, none of that mattered.

Kara stood still, flames licking off her clothes and eyes fixed on the burnt, ruined bodies in the car, now nothing more than charcoaled remains that resembled an adult and child.

Kara no longer felt the fear, the sheer panic. Her mind was no longer indecisively sifting through ways to stop this from happening.

Instead she stood, surrounded by flames and felt... disbelief. This was wrong. It wasn't supposed to end this way. This was her chance, the chance to right a wrong, to correct a failure in the past. This couldn't have happened.

It was with that same feeling of disbelief, a feeling of numbness, that she entered her apartment. Kara saw Alex's younger self, the worry on her face but it didn't matter. She heard herself mumble some excuse about an apartment fire, walked into the bathroom and stared in the mirror at her haunted face, covered in soot, and dead eyes, lifeless… focused on nothing.

Kara felt herself lay on her bed, and the feeling of numbness eased, letting in a darkness, a sense of hopelessness, a sense that she would never be good enough. She closed her eyes and saw her mother, Alura, shaking her head before burning to nothing herself.

Kara didn't want a drink for once. A drink, not even several drinks, not whole bottles would be enough. There was no point. She had failed, time and time again. Five feet away, two seconds, maybe less than a second to correct her mistake but it was enough time. It should have been enough time.

No, the urge for a drink was not there. Just the darkness creeping over her soul, a resignation. It wasn't sadness, or anger, or anything else Kara could define. It was just there, a desire for the darkness, a darkness she had been fighting her whole life and now she wanted to stop fighting. Kara wanted to let it consume her. Take her away, make her nothing.

She saw Alex in the morning, looking at her with concern when she refused to get out of bed, simply wanting to sleep in as her excuse.

After Alex left the apartment, Kara rose, taking a red-light bulb she kept in her nightstand drawer for nights when Grayson visited her in National City, and walked to the bathroom. She closed the door and screwed in the bulb, bathing the room in red, then walked to the kitchen. Reaching around the refrigerator, she took the straight razor she kept taped the back wall -hidden from Alex- and moved back to the red lit bathroom.

"Please don't." Alex whispered, watching the scene unfold through Kara's eyes. Though she had seen the aftermath, Alex never once imagined she would be seeing and feeling the act itself through Kara.

Kara stared at her face in the mirror and saw no signs of anger, or pain, or sadness. She simply saw herself resigned, emotionless, cut off from herself, from everything. Kara wanted the darkness waiting for her. It was calling her.

Astra was standing behind her in the mirror. Her aunt told her it was time. Cut off your emotions, no hesitation, do what needed to be done, just like she'd been taught.

Alex was frozen in horror. Neither of the girls could stop Kara's hands from moving her wrists, making deep gashes up her forearm then switching hands and doing the other. She looked back in the mirrors and raised her arms, satisfied the blood was running freely, Kara lay on the cool floor, closed her eyes and waited for the inevitable. Her thoughts were not on her family, or even herself other than a begging for the darkness to swallow her whole.

Kara cried softly while Alex screamed, the memory shifting to her own.

Alex found herself in the DEO medical bay: her mother, Connolly, Dante, all covered in blood.

Kara's blood.

Her little sister was on a gurney being unloaded from an ambulance and rushed into a surgical wing. Alex had not believed the call she had gotten minutes ago.

Her father believed though. He had sprung into action, taking pints of Kara's blood from his safe, setting up IVs and transfusion lines, preparing a ventilator, rolling a defibrillator into the room, preparing bandages, nurses rushing to follow his orders.

Alex stood still, frozen with terror, seeing her little sister, the one she had shared a life with for the past nine years, practically dead, paler than Alex had ever seen her. Bloody and lifeless. The brunette tried to convince herself that someone, something had done this to her.

She couldn't make herself believe what her eyes were seeing, what her mind was telling her.

Kara felt it as well. Kara watched herself be wheeled into the room, watched her mother nearly pass out, soaked in her blood, watched her father's shaking hands try to set up an IV, too scared to turn on red lights to make the puncture, even though it was desperately needed. She saw Hamilton moving her Dad out of the way, flipping on the red lights, setting the IVs, beginning the transfusions while another doctor placed a tube down her throat. A nurse placed EKG pads on her chest.

Kara felt Alex's fear, the twisting in the depths of her soul. The blonde moved towards herself, knowing that she was a passenger in Alex's body now. She grabbed the bloody blonde's hand only to be pushed back slightly by a nurse who was frantically working to administer as much blood as possible to the patient.

Kara was expelled from Alex's body, seeing her older sister next to her, watching their younger selves in the same room, the two of them alone. Kara had been cleaned up, but the breathing tube was still attached, the heart monitor showing her low blood pressure and slow heartrate. Young Alex was extremely unsettled, pacing by the bed, arms wrapped around herself, her breathing shallow and rapid.

"At this point, we still didn't know if you would live." her sister whispered next to her. "We did everything we could. All we could do is wait, see if your heart had sustained too much damage. We put you under yellow sunrays because we ran out of your blood. You still wouldn't breathe on your own. I didn't have a complete map of your brain like I do now. I wasn't sure if parts had been damaged, the parts that controlled your everyday functions. I didn't know if you would ever wake up or even able to breathe on your own."

Kara said nothing. There was nothing that could be said. She felt Alex's fear, but what surprised her was her sister's intense anger.

Alex stopped pacing by Kara's bed.

"You bitch." the older sister whispered. "How dare you! You just quit? When the hell do we quit?! We don't quit! We survived so much and what? One damn car accident and you are ready to die? What the hell were you thinking! Damn it, Kara, do you ever think about anyone in this family? Do you know what Clark is going through right now? Mom is nearly catatonic. Dad has been crying, and me? You wanted to leave me your body as a welcome home present after work?"

Alex stood in front of the bed, arms crossed, tears flowing from tired eyes. "Damn you!"

Kara stared, tears forming in her eyes as she watched her strong, level-headed sister fall apart before her eyes… and there was no question. Kara was responsible for that destruction.

The scene continued to play out as Alex continued ranting. "Why didn't you come to me?! You could have told me! We always tell each other everything! At least we used to!"

Alex shook her head, tears falling unchecked down her face. "It's my fault. I knew you were acting weird... weirder than usual anyway. I thought I would be dealing with another bout of your depression and bugging you to get out of bed. But this! This is over the top! You were going to leave me? Let them win? Damn you, Kara. Why do you do this to me?! To us? We are a team. Where you go, I go. If you don't wake up, where does that leave me? Did you even once think of me?"

Young Alex's voice was breaking. "Every time you come home drunk, telling me it's going to be the last time…"

" _It was a one-time thing Alex, don't make a big deal out of it!_ " Alex parodied. "Where were you today Kara? _At work, Alex._ No, you weren't! Kelex told me you were at another funeral!"

Alex's voice was increasing in volume as she spoke to her comatose little sister. "All you did was lie to me and I let you! What would you say if I did half the things you do? You would lose it, never let me out of the damn apartment!"

The door opened. Connolly stuck his head inside... "Alex?"

"Get out." Her tone left no room for argument. The door closed.

The brunette walked over to her sister and gently kissed her on the forehead, running her fingers through her hair. "You better wake up, damn it. Do you hear me? Things are going to change. I won't let this happen again. You are going to stop all this crap! Everything. No more drinking, no more visits to hospitals, helping at these disasters… no more Supergirl. It's over...no more. I'll lock you up if I have to, Kara. I know how afraid you have always been of cages, but I will keep you in the damn apartment with a team of shrinks all day and night if I have to. I will _never_ let this happen again."

Alex straightened up, her voice now breaking as she shouted, "Wake up so I can yell at you! So, you can explain this to me! You owe me an explanation! I have walked through hell by your side and you owe me that!"

Getting no response, she finally broke down, sobbing, collapsing in a seat in the corner, staring at her younger sister as night fell.

Time passed without acknowledgment; her eyes dry now. She was unmoving. The lights had been dimmed in the building, so she was not surprised to see a dark silhouette enter the room.

"Alex." The Batman was quiet, seeming afraid to startle her.

"Bruce." Alex replied quietly.

Seeing he had her attention, he said softly, "I checked and rechecked, everything in the apartment. I discreetly talked to patrons of the bar she sometimes visits. No one has any active plans or has been bragging...no one knows. I couldn't find any evidence of an intruder..."

"She did this to herself, Bruce," Alex interrupted him, her tone as dead as her heart felt. "J'onn knows it, you know it, everybody in the DEO knows it. Thanks for looking but it was a waste of time. We know what happened."

Bruce sighed, then offered, "If you need me, I'll be on the roof."

"Go home, Bruce. Go back to Gotham. There is nothing that can be done now but wait." Alex said.

"I'll be on the roof if you need me." the man said again and walked out.

Kara was distraught, her anguish reflecting her sister's so profoundly, she couldn't breathe.

She looked to Alex, her heart breaking at the tears in her older sister's eyes and feeling so much guilt over this memory.

"You did nothing wrong, Alex. You couldn't have known. I told you I was very good at lying." Kara whispered. "I'm so sorry I did this to you."

Alex replied, "I should have seen the signs, known this was a possibility, but I said nothing… I did nothing. When you started drinking again... you hid it better for a while, but I knew. I thought maybe surviving… this... had been a wakeup call, maybe you learned a lesson and would handle life better, but I should have known. You just kept falling and I didn't stop you."

Alex's intense gaze drew her in so tight, Kara couldn't help but feel her sister's sorrow. "You wanted to keep being Supergirl and I said nothing. I am your older sister. I'm supposed to protect you. Instead, I went along for the ride and kept hoping for the best. I didn't look for all your hiding places. I didn't check the trash outside for bottles. I had myself so convinced that when you insisted I move in with Cameron, I thought you were okay. I even convinced myself that being on your own might do you some good."

Alex paused for a moment, obviously lost in thought, before continuing. "I was so wrong. Instead you began drinking more. You were hurting yourself more often, snorting the alien version of cocaine… left alone with your ghosts.

"I noticed your hands shaking one Sunday. We had been on the beach all day with the family and it had been hours since you arrived. I saw your hand tremble. You hadn't had anything but tea to drink all day. When the trembling started you clenched your fist and left soon after. I never said anything until Dad noticed it two weeks later. We still convinced ourselves it wasn't a problem because we had no way of helping you."

She hesitated slightly, then said, "It was around that time Bruce told us about the place he was having built."

"The Block. He said it was a place to help me if the Government ever tried to use some type of biological warfare on me." Seeing the look on Alex's face, she realized the truth. She asked even though she knew the answer. "That wasn't really what he had in mind, was it?"

"No, it wasn't. He started construction while you were still recovering from almost killing yourself. He told me about it when it was nearing completion, he wasted no time getting it fully staffed and equipped… all for you."

Alex's eyes were glistening with unshed tears as she confessed this secret to her little sister, but her tone was unapologetic. "The two of us came up with the plan. I knew you wouldn't get help on your own, but I hoped. We tried, all of us tried to get you to talk about it with us but it was never enough. I didn't want to force you to go but I had to, you left me no choice, and the final decision was left up to me. I made you a promise… and I was going to keep it no matter what. You were so close to attempting suicide again and I wasn't going to let that happen. Not this time."

They were standing together in the DEO's quarantine labs where Kara had been taken after she had finally awakened. The lab was secure and near the medical facilities, so it was easier to keep the catatonic Kryptonian under continuous observation.

Every attempt to speak to Kara by her family, her friends and doctors had been met with silence and a vacant stare at the ceiling above her.

She had a red crystal bracelet on her left wrist, rendering her powerless. Unlike most of her bracelets, this one would not come off without a key.

Seeing herself lying there, Kara felt immense sorrow and no small amount of shame. "I felt too embarrassed to talk to anyone. I just felt empty… humiliated. I couldn't even kill myself correctly. I remember thinking I should have done it somewhere no one could find me. Instead I was in a damn lab, handcuffed and alive... and hating myself even worse because I hadn't succeeded. I knew I screwed up and... I don't know. I guessed if I retreated inside myself I wouldn't have to deal with the accusations, the pity..."

"Yeah, I feel it... all of it." Alex assured her. "It was a living hell for me as well. You left me behind… and even here, in this place… you still tried to get away. So damn hardheaded and scared."

As they watched, there was finally, a reaction. Somewhat of a reaction. Eliza walked in and nearly forced Kara into a sitting position and Kara cooperated. The woman began brushing her blonde daughter's hair.

"You have such beautiful hair." Eliza whispered, a noticeable tremor in her voice. "My baby daughter. I love you so much. You haven't been eating. You want pot stickers or maybe that pizza you love? You haven't been to a bathroom since you woke up. You have to eat Kara. If I bring you orange chicken or that pizza from the place on Ocean Drive, would you eat?"

Kara lay back down without a word. She raised her left wrist and glanced at her mom briefly before returning her gaze to the ceiling. The question was obvious without being spoken.

Eliza replied softly, love in her voice while seeming to be nonthreatening but wanting Kara to understand. "You tried to kill yourself Kara. You are under a 24/7 suicide watch. You haven't spoken or eaten in three days. The cuff... the bracelet stays on. If you want it off, you will have to talk to someone and eat something. Until then you are staying in this room. Do you want to go to the bathroom? Take a shower or brush your teeth maybe?"

Neither girl watching was surprised when Eliza was met with silence as Kara continued to stare at the ceiling.

"This is when we began." Alex admitted. "Planning, trying to figure out what to do, no longer hoping things would get better. Dad started giving you antidepressants he had designed through your IV while you slept, but nothing worked. Nothing. You didn't even have side effects. Your blood rejected everything, even in your weakened state. It took months, but we eventually figured out that alien ingredients were needed. Dad gave Lobo a list and he began searching the universe for them."

A slight shift in memory showed the Danvers parents and Alex sitting in one of the DEO's conference rooms with Batman on video chat.

"It's not ready," a masked Bruce Wayne told them. "I need more crystals for lights, and the weapons defense system isn't completed. Some of the lower levels still have weaknesses. The staff hasn't been fully vetted by J'onn. This place will have to be airtight before she gets here. How exactly are you going to get her here when it is ready? I doubt she will volunteer."

The parents looked at Alex. The older sister sighed knowing this decision would be on her.

She replied, "I'm not going to give her a choice. If she refuses to go, we will come up with a plan to get her there. Start thinking, Bruce. We have time. She isn't going anywhere. We haven't developed workable depression medication yet, but Dad thinks he has perfected a sedative for her at least. If we have to, we can drug her under red sunlight and take her."

"She will hate us." Jeremiah mumbled.

"Would you rather she was dead? That's where she is heading if we don't force her to get help." Alex retorted. "Besides until she starts talking to her therapist again, this is a moot point. She is staying here. If she does, then maybe we can bring her to the beach house, keep here there. Maybe she can recover from this without resorting to being taken against her will."

"And the drinking?' Jeremiah asked, looking at Alex.

At this question, Kara felt Alex's hesitation and indecision. She turned to her sister, expression questioning.

"I lied." Alex simply said, shrugging her shoulders. "It was natural. I was used to covering for you."

Kara shook her head at the loyalty her sister had always shown her, knowing she didn't deserve it. She turned back as the conversation between Alex and their Dad continued.

"Not as big a problem as her depression. She hasn't had a drink since she entered this place. It's been three weeks and she is showing no signs of withdrawals..."

Jeremiah interrupted her. "Alex, how much has she been drinking?"

Alex took a deep breath. "Not as much. She has come home a few times drunk. J'onn of course had to retrieve her after a tough night but it doesn't happen often. I've seen her drunk maybe once or twice every couple of weeks. Most of the time she just has a drink or two at home… like we all do. She is 21."

"Alex, does she have a problem with drinking?" Jeremiah asked again.

The older sister closed her eyes for a moment. "When she begins speaking again we can have Jess talk to her about it. She won't have access to any here obviously and I won't let any alcohol at our place, alien or otherwise. This is a wakeup call for her… it has to be. This has everything to do with that car accident. We all know how guilty she felt the first time."

She opened her eyes and looked at her parents. "I spoke to a firefighter on scene. They saw her fly in a minute before they got there. The car blew up in her face. The firefighter said she put it out with freeze breath but wouldn't move. Just stared at the burnt bodies while the fire department killed the power and secured the scene."

Alex could see the doubt in her father's eyes. "Look, I'll keep an eye on her drinking, but that's not what this is about."

Kara felt Alex take her hand, feeling a need to connect, knowing she needed that connection as well. Alex squeezed gently. "I lied to them and they believed it, because they wanted to. They needed to. We all knew you had been drinking. We all thought if we just told you to stop, you would. I enabled you… we all did. None of us called you out until we were forced to and by then it was too late."

Kara pulled closer to her sister, hoping to stave off Alex's self-recriminations. "Don't blame yourself for this Alex. All you ever did was love me and I betrayed you, I let you down. I did this to myself and everyone who loved me. I see that now. It has always been my decision to do what I did. Yeah, I was becoming addicted, I was already addicted but I did everything I could not to let you find out. I didn't want you to know how much I drank. I sure didn't want you to know about the drug use."

Alex didn't say anything, but her sadness over her own perceived failures was acute to both of them. She leaned into Kara, chuckling under her breath. "I did figure out a way to get you to talk to me, though."

A new memory surfaced. Kara lay on the bed in her usual position. She had not spoken or ate in five days. On the sixth Alex walked in with a brown IV bag and a long tube. She set the items on the bed and walked out, only to enter once again, holding a bucket. Without hesitation she tossed the contents of the bucket of saltwater over Kara's head.

The blonde sat up, quickly, closing her eyes tightly and spitting out the water she had hated tasting since her first days on Earth.

"What the hell, Alex?!" Her scratchy voice demanded.

"So… she does talk." The older sister said sarcastically. "I wondered if the blood loss had given you brain damage. Now that you are up, I need you to lay back down. This is going to hurt a bit, but it has to be done."

Kara saw the brown bag obviously holding a liquid inside.

"What is that?" Kara asked quietly with her scratchy voice.

"It's a feeding tube that will enter your esophagus through your nose. It's common for people who can't eat. Since you haven't had food in a long time, wearing a red bracelet means you are losing nutrients and weight. Saline can keep you hydrated but it won't provide what your body needs. Hence, liquid food." Alex finished setting up her equipment, then pinned Kara down with a pointed stare, daring her to argue. "Now, are you going to lie still and help me out or do I need to bring a couple agents in here to hold you down?"

"You wouldn't." Kara whispered, eyes wide, watching Alex place some sort of gel on the outside of the tube. "Take the bracelet off me. I won't need to eat."

Alex actually laughed. "No, bad little sisters who bleed all over older sister's bathroom floors don't get to have superpowers or sharp objects. You want out of here, start eating, start talking to Jess, Mom, Dad, Clark. Then you can go to their beach house where we will all stay so we can take turns watching you. Now lay back. This part is going to hurt a bit but then it will be fine. Just swallow when I tell you to."

"No!" Kara shouted and turned her face into the pillow.

"So, do I get Hawk to hold you down, or will you eat solid food on your own? You can start with dry toast and work your way up to pizza. Then we go to Mom and Dad's for a while. Do you understand?"

Kara remained silent; face buried in the pillow.

"I asked if you understand." Alex said again, her voice hard. "I'm not giving you a choice. You ever want a life outside of being watched like you are in a psych ward, then do as you are told. Do you understand?"

Kara nodded her head, angry at being treated like a child, though she knew deep down, in this case, it was probably warranted.

"I hated when you talked to me that way. I'm not sure why I put up with it." Kara admitted, pushing her sister away from her now, though still feeling edgy.

"Because I told you when the adoption papers were signed, I'm the big sister. I make the rules." Alex said as the scene moved on.

It was two months later that Kara had her final session with Jess. Though she had not been as animated as in the past, simply walking around the house for the first week, staying in her bed, barely speaking to any of them, she had gotten better as time went on.

"I made a stupid mistake. What happened... I couldn't have done anything about it." Kara told her therapist and sounded very sincere.

Alex shook her head looking back on this moment, the truth plain to see in hindsight. "You became so good at lying, I almost believe you even now. You always did know the right thing to say, to throw Mom, Dad, even Jessica off your trail."

Seeing this conversation through her sister's eyes had Alex so upset, her voice cracked. "I get it now; you never forgave yourself for any of this. You felt guilt about what you did but not because you tried to kill yourself. It was because you traumatized us."

Kara said nothing. There was no point… there was no hiding in here. She felt Alex's anger and Alex felt her deep depression.

Hoping to soothe her sister, Kara took Alex by the arm and drew her close. Despite how angry and upset Alex was, having Kara close, knowing they were together, calmed her. "No matter how angry I still am about all of this, knowing now I couldn't have stopped you… I still can't get past the feeling that I failed you."

She leaned her head over onto Kara's shoulder, watching the events continue to play out.

The family was sitting in the living room, watching television when a breaking news alert interrupted the program. A hostage situation was developing at a bank in National City. Kara had been gone too long. Criminals were bold enough to hit National City. Unbelievable to her, yet it was happening.

Police officers had been shot along with possible hostages.

"Someone going to unlock this damn bracelet, or should I just suit up and hope for the best?" Kara asked her speechless family, holding out her wrist.

"I can't stop… being Supergirl, I mean." she continued. "Lives are on the line. Batman isn't making the trip from Gotham to stop this in time."

"I'll get suited up..." Alex started, hoping to keep her sister in the house.

"Unlock the bracelet, Alex. I know you keep a key in the house in case I got a hold of a sharp object. I made a mistake. I promise it won't happen again. Jess and I have met every day, but it's time I got back to my life now. Those people need Supergirl."

Alex recognized the tone. She knew Kara had become restless and would eventually leave on her own, figuring out a way to remove the bracelet. She retrieved the key from where it had been taped under Eliza's desk and hesitantly placed it in the cuff. "Are you sure? No more drinking? You will talk to me..."

"Unlock this, Alex. Time equals lives. You know this." Kara interrupted, as the Supergirl persona pushed to the forefront, her command presence felt by everyone in the room.

Five minutes later, Kara landed in front of the bank to the relief of the police. The armed robbers saw her from the windows. A couple minutes later they walked out, hands in the air without Kara having to do anything.

Then she was back in her apartment, on the phone.

"How fast can you get here?" she asked Dick Grayson.

Kara sighed. "I needed him, and I needed a drink. I needed to forget everything that happened. Everything I did. As usual, when I called, my black clad puppy came running, didn't he? Why could I never love him?"

"You liked him too much to ever love him. Because you hated yourself, Kara." Alex admitted.

The next night the man was at her apartment while she texted with Alex and Eliza every five minutes to reassure them she still lived. The night after that, her Dad visited her after having a chat with Dante, suggesting she stop seeing Dick Grayson permanently and taking the red sun device Kara kept hidden in the house. It didn't matter though, Kara had more than one hidden around the apartment, not to mention a couple she kept in secret locations around the city.

The night after she had her discussion with Jeremiah, Kara drank enough to loosen any inhibitions and waited for Dante in his apartment.

Alex was shocked from the feeling... the sting of rejection. Kara's humiliation, her words to Dante, her demand he stay out of her life forever.

"That probably wasn't the best way to handle that." Kara admitted to Alex.

Her sister looked thoughtful. Alex now understood Kara's feelings for Dante… and so much more made sense to her. "I always wondered what was said that night… and I understand now. You wanted to be loved by somebody... someone like you. Who better than the guy who helped mold you into what you became? The embarrassment, the heartache... It hurts. I never felt that with Cameron. She never rejected me. No one did."

Alex hesitated for a moment shaking her head, pleading with her sister. "Could you please stop remembering having sex with Grayson? It's not something I want to remember or have in my head... or feel. And now, I'm stuck with it… forever… so please stop. It's just... eww."

Kara snorted. "You think I like remembering what it's like to be with Cameron? Suck it up."

Kara's eyes lost focus, starring into nothing. "I can feel more memories coming through now. Can you?"

Alex braced herself as she was bombarded. "Yeah, I am feeling everything you are feeling, whether I like it or not."

"I can't focus. What is coming, Alex?" Kara's voice was shaky as she tried to comprehend the chaos swirling around them.

Alex closed her eyes, feeling the memories move through them, eventually falling into a cohesive picture as Kara unlocked them. The memories settled at a particular time and place. Then Alex saw it.

"Barry Allen is coming."


	18. Chapter 18

**Do not own CW or DC characters**

 **Chapter 18**

Kara and Alex felt the memories settle as the scene coalesced around them, resolving into a familiar and comfortable scene, one with their younger selves watching TV as it showed breaking news occurring a few hundred miles away.

"Whoever this guy is, he is going to die… he's absolutely pitiful. You get this, right?" Kara asked Bruce over the phone, the girl sitting next to Alex on their couch in National City, watching the Flash struggle with yet another metahuman.

The speaker was on so Alex could hear what was said, but she wasn't about to interject herself into the middle of their argument.

"We all had to learn. He is getting better." Bruce said.

"Really? He had Snart and Rory cross beams, Ghostbuster style, to take out their guns. If he is so fast, why didn't he take them both from their hands before they had a chance to fire? He is screwing around with two small time criminals that got their grubby hands on weapons that came out of S.T.A.R Labs… which, by the way, has the lousiest security system I've ever seen!" Kara reminded her friend.

"It was a sound plan." Bruce argued, ignoring the point about S.T.A.R.'s lack of security. "Yes, he took a chance, but it worked."

Kara scoffed, looking at Alex who shook her head, rolled her eyes _and_ shrugged her shoulders at Bruce's lame excuses for the inept speedster. "Yeah, that time he managed to get lucky and fortunately for him, no one died."

"Kara, he just needs some time to figure out his powers, he can be a great hero if he's given the chance." Bruce said as he continued to try to get her to see his point. For some reason she couldn't figure out, the man refused to even attempt to see hers.

"Look, Bruce, he can't fight." Kara pointed out, the pitch in her voice rising to reflect her irritation with the Batman's stubbornness. "This 'yellow streak of lightning' man that keeps kicking his ass, you know that's probably the same guy who killed Barry's mother and the reason his father is in prison. This guy hasn't beat him yet, doesn't seem to have a clue how to even slow him down.

"I need to go to Central City and put a stop to this. Barry isn't at S.T.A.R. anymore. He woke up and left. He's back at work. Now there are lightning bolts flying around the city and he is probably counting on this amateur in red to take him out."

Bruce cleared his throat. "I thought you said you wanted to stay out of Central City, out of his life?"

"I do, but it's not just Barry that's being threatened! Central City is being overrun by metahumans that Harrison Wells created through his little 'accident'. The media has been all up in my face asking why I've stayed out of Central City for the past three years. This is going to end badly because this idiot doesn't know what the hell he's doing! People are going to die, Bruce. Things are going too far, and this hero wannabe will not only get innocents killed, he's going to get himself killed.

"Listen, I've got a plan to end this. Alex can take to the sky, use her weapons to herd the yellow lighting man into a secluded place where I freeze him and ... take him into custody."

Bruce practically growled, knowing what she really meant. "If you kill him, your old friend's dad will never be proven innocent. If it means that much to you, then go to S.T.A.R. and offer your help. But don't take over. We need him. He is getting better and needs to do this on his own or he will never have confidence."

"He shouldn't be doing this at all!" Kara countered. "You've seen the slow mo. This guy can't fight. He obviously hasn't been trained, nor had years to master his power. As far as working together, I don't need an amateur helping me, especially one with powers that he doesn't know how to use! Alex and I can handle the yellow speedster while you take junior to the Batman school for newbie superheroes. At least teach him to throw a punch!"

Bruce sighed, his tone somewhat condescending which only increased her irritation. "We all learned the hard way, Kara. Pulling him out and telling him he is not good enough will destroy his confidence. We both know what it is like starting out."

Kara grinned, jumping on the fact he had just proven her point. In a mocking tone, she said, "You are so right! We both know what it is like starting out. Alex and I had barely started wearing bras when we started to learn to fight these monsters. For five years, we worked our asses off, training our minds… our bodies. I worked nearly every day perfecting my powers, flying and turning on a dime, controlling every aspect of my heat vision, my strength, my hand to hand combat.

"The first monster I encountered was a Vrang and I shattered his spine. I didn't even need to think about what to do. I killed a Kryptonian in my second real fight, then went through the rest. I killed White Martians. Everything that I have face I killed or defeated because I was prepared! You didn't graduate boarding school and immediately start fighting Bane. No… you spent years training before you were jumping over rooftops. You didn't let Dick out of the cave until you were absolutely sure he knew what he was doing. But you are willing to let this kid get his metahuman ass kicked constantly because he hasn't had any training!? I'm fairly certain nearly getting killed day in and out is doing wonders for his confidence."

She looked over at her sister, to see if she was going to add anything to the discussion. Alex was shaking her head at the TV which showed the Flash, once again, letting his target get away. At her sister's disgusted look, Kara laughed. "You know what, Bruce? Fine. We'll do things your way. Once he's dead, I will go clean up this mess or you can."

Bruce stayed silent for a moment, and Kara thought that would be the end of the conversation.

"Let's talk about Oliver Queen." he finally said.

Kara let out an exasperated grunt. "Let's not. I told you I wanted him left alone. He is doing good work."

"He is dropping more bodyguards than he is targets." Bruce reminded her. "I need to put a stop to that. That isn't justice. You want to handle aliens your way, fine. Humans killing other humans needs to end. Dropping those suspected of crimes..."

Kara laughed sharply. "So, I guess branding 'suspected'criminals… breaking their bones, putting them in comas, that's okay? Don't be a hypocrite Bruce. The things you do aren't exactly following the letter of the law, now are they?"

There was absolute silence on the other end of the line until finally... "Stay out of Central City, stay away from S.T.A.R. Labs, stay out of the Flash's way and I will leave Starling City alone."

Kara laughed. "No problem. When the upstart gets killed, you can start bugging me about the next untrained metahuman you want to recruit. I have all the support I need. If you have any pity left, you will talk this kid out of doing what he is doing before he gets killed, or worse… gets someone else killed, at which point he will have to worry about me."

She looked over at Alex who had punched her in the arm. Seeing her sister mimicking driving a car, she gave her a thumbs up. "By the way, since we are talking about speed, I need to borrow your Corvette. There is an illegal street racing club I found in Metropolis. Alex and I are going undercover, find out more information, see if we can break it up by taking out all the competitors."

"No."

"Great, I'll pick it up tomorrow. No worries, not a scratch on it, I promise. I'll even fill it up."

"No."

"See you then. Tell Alfred we will stop by around five. Gives us plenty of time to get to Metropolis. Take care, Bruce!"

Kara hung up before the man could argue more.

Alex shook her head, a huge grin lighting up her face. "You think he will ever get really tired of us stealing his cars to go street racing?"

"It's only stealing if you don't give it back. I can't take his Lambo. No one would race us. No worries, we got this." Both girls broke out into laughter, excited about their plans for the following evening.

The scene dimmed a little as Kara looked at her sister. Alex was looking at her intently, her expression unreadable.

"The Flash." Kara whispered, memories of her thoughts on the man finally hitting her.

"You were less than impressed, with good reason." Alex responded.

Kara felt a little nauseated. "It was obvious from the tapes he wasn't cut out for this. He was great at saving people from burning buildings or catching jumpers if they didn't fall too far from the ledge of a building but... I just knew... it's like he was a child playing at being a superhero with his friends… only he never figured out this wasn't a game… and he didn't figure out he didn't have what it takes to do what needs to be done, sometimes it takes losing a piece of yourself to do the right thing..."

Alex shrugged her shoulders. "You were more occupied by Queen, debating trading in your black clad toy for a green clad one."

Kara nodded, that memory returning as well. "I stayed out of Oliver's way. He knew what he was doing, he was very capable. Yeah, he failed to stop the Undertaking, but he was doing well. All of us have failed at some point regardless of how prepared we are. The difference between him and the Flash showed in his eyes. He was a killer, prepared to do whatever it took to protect his city. At least I thought so before the Siege."

Another memory swept Kara away. This time she was flying through the apartment window after saving a village in the Congo from being slaughtered by militants. Alex was on the couch, a look of resignation on her face. "What's wrong? They cancel 'Orange is the New Black'?"

Alex grunted; the corners of her mouth turned up at her sister's humor. "Worse. Bruce will probably not talk to you for a while just to avoid the countless repetitions of 'I told you so' that are coming. While you were away, your 'black hole causing' superhero wannabe got himself in yet another mess and might be dead."

"The black clad speedster in the bad Halloween mask get him?" Kara guessed. This 'Zoom' guy was faster than the late Harrison Wells had been before Wells got sucked up in the singularity over S.T.A.R. Labs.

Alex nodded, pointing to the TV. "Footage from inside the police station. Looks like Flash got the hell beat out of himself, possible broken back. He looked worse than Bruce after his last fight with Bane and that's saying something. Might even be dead, which, while… bad… would solve a lot of the current problems Bruce won't let us fix."

Kara shrugged her shoulders, moved to the bedroom and was back in two seconds, having changed into pajamas, now sitting next to her sister, pleased at the thought of finally making some progress in stabilizing the situation in Central City. "Great. I've been wanting to take out this slasher wannabe. Cat won't stop bugging me about it. So, if the amateur hero is dead, Bruce can shut up about me staying out of Central City and I can take this 'Zoom' guy's head off. What about instead of luring him, I just call him out? Maybe we can set some dwarf star grenades on either side of me with trip wires, just to see how he handles a little blast. Could be fun."

Alex shook her head and smiled. Only her little sister would be looking forward to fighting a large speedster who resembled a monster and think of ways to play with him before the kill. "DEO is moving a team to Central City. Just a quick response team if needed. Maybe we should go. This guy is fast Kara… faster than anything you have faced. We need a solid plan, scout out the area, study his patterns. He isn't working out of S.T.A.R., that much we do know. We have no idea who he even is and that is surprisingly unusual. Justin can get on it..."

"Waste of time." Kara argued.

"He can manipulate his molecules, bring them to an excitable state, phase through matter. He could phase through you and take out your heart." Alex pointed out.

"That's why I freeze him first. No better way to slow down excitable energy than to freeze it. We do live half our lives in a castle built on frozen ground, I thought you would realize this. My breath is good for more than turning regular cake into ice cream cake. Freeze, punch, break." Kara stated confidently. "He's no big deal. He's a speedster so this should be over fast. Cat will get off my back about never helping Central City, bad guy will be dead, Pizza Rolls for dinner. It's two for Tuesday night at Gino's. What do you think? It will be fun."

Alex sighed, not wanting to burst her happy sister's bubble, but needing her to listen to reason. "No, we go in when we have a plan, one more solid than you blowing and swinging. He is faster than you. There are a hundred things you could build that would stop him before he got near you. Start using your brain and stop relying on muscle all the time. It's starting to become a habit of yours."

Shifting mental gears, Alex decided to ask her sister about an idea she'd had, not wanting to upset her, but needing her help to flesh out the thought or give evidence that her theory was off. "Kara... have you ever thought about the timing of everything that has gone down in Central City?"

"Timing?" she asked, her face scrunched in confusion at the sudden change of subject.

"Yeah. Barry Allen woke from his coma after being hit by lightning, during the radiation surge caused by S.T.A.R.; Wells brings Barry in for treatment, he wakes up and two weeks later the first signs of a red speedster..."

"Alex, stop. It's a ridiculous theory. I get your point, but you don't know Barry. I guess I don't know him now either, it's been years, but I remember what he was like. Barry is kind, gentle… and he has a big heart. Being a superhero would never be his thing. He isn't like us."

"What? Crazy?" Alex asked with a laugh.

Kara playfully shoved her sister, causing Alex to laugh even harder. "I'm the crazy one. If we are both crazy the world would be seriously screwed. Barry just... doesn't have it in him. He is a sweet guy. Despite what happened to his parents, he had this air of innocence around him. He isn't the kind of guy who would be comfortable making life or death decisions. Besides, if Barry was somehow the Flash, he knows who I am. He would have called out to me for help."

Despite dismissing her sister's theory outright, Kara looked pensive. "Maybe if Bruce would have let me handle Central City's metahuman problem this guy wouldn't be laid out somewhere dead or broken."

Kara sighed and leaned into her sister's shoulder, letting her know she wasn't upset. "You know what? Screw it. The Flash could have reached out to me and asked for help, but he hasn't. If he thinks he can handle the situation, then let's let him handle it. Bruce thinks he needs to learn on his own, so it isn't my problem. I guess they both learned a valuable lesson tonight. Still, I hope whoever this guy is didn't pay with his life and if he did live, maybe it will be a wakeup call. He needs to leave the wars to the warriors and stick to rescuing people."

As if triggered by those words, the scene dramatically changed around them. Kara and Alex saw Kara standing on air over a flooded city. The Tsunami hit ten minutes ago; the city already underwater except for a few of the taller rooftops. Soon it would be flowing back into the ocean, taking with it the bodies of those whose lives it took.

Many had heard the warning and made it onto rooftops, but they were of no concern to Kara. They were safe. She was too busy peering into the muddy water, looking for survivors trapped in the brutal currents.

A cry was heard, a child. Looking to her left, a half mile away she saw a young girl fall ten feet from the roof into the water below.

Her mother had just made it, hands of fellow survivors pulling her up when her grip slipped near the top.

Kara moved quickly, sweeping the young girl up into her arms and taking to the sky, cradling the shivering girl in her arms as she searched for more. Finding none, Kara decided it was time to rescue the people from the rooftops of buildings that might be in danger of collapsing.

Kara landed softly on roof of the building where the girl's crying mother was. The other twenty-two people on the roof crowded her, their eyes roaming over her with awe and reverence. The blonde hated this. The people looked at her as if she were some kind of god. If Kara were a god, she would have never allowed this tragedy to happen in the first place.

A few touched her as she walked through the crowd with the little one in her arms. Some touched her cape; some touched her hair and quite a few took a knee as she passed. She found the distraught mother behind the crowd, still looking at the spot her daughter had fallen from. Finally turning at the commotion on the roof, seeing the blonde surrounded by village survivors, her eyes burst with joy and relief.

Kara handed the scared, soaking wet girl to her mother. The woman dropped to her knees and bowed her head.

Kara squatted down, putting both hands on the woman's shoulders. "Please, stand up. I'm not a god."

The woman made no move to stand.

"Hindi ako insang diyos." Kara repeated, her eyes beseeching the young mother. The woman sat her daughter on the ground and they both slowly stood, the thankful woman wrapping her arms around the blonde.

"Ikaw ay isang anghel na ipinadala mula sa diyos." the woman replied, releasing her and wiping tears from her eyes.

Kara stepped back before the woman could kneel before her and lifted off.

Alex watching this through Kara's eyes, could not believe the guilt her little sister felt, the pain and the weight of expectations.

"The pressure... they worshipped you." Alex whispered. "I knew about the churches and... how did you live with that expectation? All the people, expecting you to perform miracles..."

"I wasn't worthy. If they had known what I had done in my past, what I was still doing... if they thought about the ones I couldn't save... they had no clue the devil was in their midst." Kara's head was down. She couldn't look at her sister, couldn't stand to see her failures reflected back at her in Alex's knowing eyes.

Instead, she found herself wrapped up in understanding, Alex's thoughts surrounding her as only their merged state would allow.

"You weren't the devil." Alex insisted, her voice full of love, knowing now exactly how uncomfortable these demonstrations made Kara.. and fully grasping why. "You were their savior. I always laughed at the people who worshipped you but... seeing this? Through your eyes? Kara, that woman prayed for a miracle. She prayed for her daughter to be in her arms and then you were there… floating gently to the earth they stood on and delivering her miracle. I get it now. I see what they saw, and I now know why it made you so uncomfortable… Because if you let someone down, you were destroying their faith to believe in anything."

Kara didn't move; she couldn't. She was shaking now, not knowing if she wanted the truth to her next question or not, yet still desperate to hear and feel Alex's unfiltered thoughts. Quietly, she asked, "And when I killed?"

Alex heard the tremor in her sister's voice. She reached out with both hands and cupped Kara's face gently, slowly forcing her to look up so the blonde could read the sincerity in her face, hear it unmistakably in her voice. "You were justice for those who could not get justice and a savior to those who would not be harmed in the future because of your decisive actions." her big sister insisted.

Before Kara could argue, she heard Alex's voice summoning her to the Fortress.

"Kind of busy, Alex. Is this an 'end of the world' scenario?" Kara asked her.

"Eh, maybe not, but it's at least the end of Central City and maybe the surrounding areas. A hoard of metahumans just showed up, attacking everything in sight. Must be twenty of them. Bruce is on his way. I'm going to sling shot through orbit. I can be there in twenty minutes." Alex told her.

"Kelex, shut Scarlett down." Kara ordered as she launched herself towards Central City.

"Kara, what the hell!?" Alex yelled into her comms.

"You've never been in space with the ship. I told you I would test it first and you agreed. I don't remember testing it. If you want to get to Central City start flying. Kelex, make sure she stays in the atmosphere. Do not go past Mach 5."

As she watched her younger self lock down her sister's flight plan, Kara heard her Alex grumble beside her. "I always hated when you did that. I wanted to break something over your head."

"I will never take unnecessary chances with your life, Alex. Never. It was the right call. You sometimes have more balls than brains. Considering it nearly fell apart and the oxygen supply leaked out you should be thanking me for testing it first. That jet was never going to hold up to space travel, no matter how much I modified it." Kara told her, not a doubt in her voice.

None of that mattered. Kara was three minutes away from Central City when Bruce told her the problem had been taken care of by the Flash.

Kara was livid. "What's the damage?"

"I'm keeping an eye on it." Bruce replied, "I'm over Keystone now. The metas are gone. I'll share the information at the Fortress. I believe these metahumans ...I have a theory about alternate universes..."

Kara laughed harshly. "So, he isn't just getting beaten by Zoom, now he is bringing metas from an alternate dimension to fight?"

"The metas were most likely brought in by Zoom. I haven't figured out what the Flash did but they are gone. Come to the Fortress and we can talk about this, figure it out together. The mathematics involved are more your skill set." Bruce said.

"Or I could have a talk with the Flash now, convince him to go into an early retirement. The guy is pissing me off, Bruce. You say he isn't responsible for these things, but they seem to rotate around him. Zoom has been loose for months now. This should have been over within days of Zoom's appearance, but no. You said to let the Flash handle it." Kara was growing angrier with each sentence. "My friend... he is in Central City. If he dies because of something this Flash guy couldn't stop there is going to be hell to pay… starting with Flash and ending with you. Do you understand me?"

A moment of silence settled around the sisters, the honest threat ringing in their minds, before Bruce's voice materialized in the darkness surrounding them, calling her to Central City.

Kara knew what was coming, she remembered letting Grayson spend the night, drinking, drinking so much all the time and the trip to S.T.A.R. Labs, determined to take out the lab and the Flash despite what she told Bruce.

"It was him." Kara whispered to Alex, her memories emerging of the man behind the mask of the Flash. "You were right, it was always Barry. All the times I watched him be beaten, injured, nearly killed, ridiculed the Flash… it was him."

Alex felt the overwhelming sense of guilt flowing off Kara as she realized the guy she had been laughing at and despising for two years was the same one who shared her first date, her first kiss.

"I let that happen. I left him, left his life so he wouldn't be caught up in ours, the violence, death, blood. The pain... this wasn't supposed to be his life!"

Kara stopped talking when she felt a new emotion surge, one of intense anger, hate. She knew immediately this was not her emotion.

"Alex?"

"Don't feel pity towards him, he doesn't deserve it and you don't need to feel guilty over his poor choices. You were always right about him." Alex seethed, shocking Kara by the intensity of her hatred towards Barry Allen. "He was weak. He wasn't able to make the right call or any call without somebody telling him what to do. He was never willing to really take responsibility, he only wanted everyone to think that he could."

Kara was so shocked; she froze stone cold at the venom in Alex's voice. She had never seen her sister this enraged over anything in her life. She asked, stumbling through her words. "Why... why would you say that?"

Alex shook her head. "After you were gone... I knew you were alive, but I began to doubt I could get you out. I could have saved you from that pain, if he had just done what I told him to do."

Kara understood what she was talking about without needing to be told. "You asked him to change the timeline, didn't you?"

Alex nodded, her gaze never leaving Barry Allen's image, her eyes seemingly sparking fire even now with the intensity of her anger. Images flew unbidden into Kara's mind as Alex's rage caused a flood of memories to be released…. memories of the weeks she and Kelex worked in the Fortress… memories of the two tirelessly running simulation after simulation until they found the one scenario that would cause the least disruption in the timeline... memories that held such intensity that pursuing the task before her was the only thing keeping Alex from losing her sanity.

Knowing she needed to calm her sister, get her to see some reason, Kara reached out, catching Alex's hand to pull her attention from wherever her demons had driven her. Her voice was soft as she spoke, hoping Alex could hear her, "You know how dangerous that would have been. He couldn't do that, Alex. Time travel has serious repercussions. You thought you had figured it out, you and Kelex ran scenario after scenario but that's all they were. You can't be angry at him."

Alex laughed bitterly, shaking her head, but not pulling away either. "But that's my point, Kara. He did it. He went back in time to the exact place and time I asked him to go… the one moment in the timeline where he could tell me what I needed to do to stop all of this from ever happening with minimal repercussions. It took some doing, but he eventually caved to my demand that he grow some balls and save your life. So yeah, don't give me that bullshit. He time travelled, but for his own selfish reasons and they weren't to help you by doing as I asked."

Kara became more troubled, feeling her sister's anger spike as Alex continued her diatribe, hatred of the Flash and Barry Allen evident in every word she spoke. "You had dumped his ass months before this, but he still went back in time and looked at you, saw you while you were sleeping and said goodbye."

Alex's eyes pinned Kara with such anger, the blonde couldn't breathe. Alex was gritting her teeth so hard at this point; Kara could feel the grinding of them. "He had no right to see you and not do anything. Our family was falling apart, and he risked time travel, not to save you, but to see you one last time. He could go back in time as many times as he wished and see you, but we couldn't? Oh, no. He should have stayed away from you or made the call to change things. He took what he wanted. So, don't argue with me... I'll always hate him. Nothing you can ever say to me will change that. I worked my ass off to try and find a way to bring you back and was getting nowhere! He could have done it so easily, but he was too weak, too selfish to actually do it."

"Alex..." Kara felt she was losing her sister in that moment, finally getting a glimpse of what her absence had done to Alex.

Alex chuckled somewhat maniacally, still lost in her own mind. "After his little stunt, I had Kelex remote destroy his ring. He may be able to travel back in time and see you all he wanted, but he wasn't going to do it in the suit you gave him. The ring is nothing but costume jewelry now, the suit destroyed. He was no hero, he didn't deserve any part of you."

"Alex, please…" Kara pleaded.

"It's the truth, Kara!" Alex yelled, pulling their hands apart, her hate nearly causing Kara to fall on the ground.

But the hate was gone an instant later, Alex's rant stopping immediately with the change in scenery. The feelings on her skin... no... the Batcave doused in red light... falling, stinging sensations...

Alex felt the two of them in a bed at the Block, her previous mood shifting with the new sensations she was being subject to. The chills, the hallucinations, the shaking. Kara recognized them but Alex was feeling it for the first time, and it scared the hell out of her.

"Kara?" Alex was in pain. Kara held her sister tightly from behind while Alex trembled in her arms.

"I'm here." Kara assured her. "It hurts. The shaking... I felt like I was dying in the worst possible way." the blonde mumbled, squeezing Alex tighter, the way Alex had held her in the early stages of withdrawals.

"How... how did you handle it? How did you not lose your mind?" Alex asked shakily. "God, it hurts!"

Kara smiled despite the agony she was experiencing, holding Alex even closer. "I survived because you held on to me, like I am holding on to you right now. Let me hold you. I feel it too. I remember this, some of it... just concentrate on my arms and know that none of this is real."

The two girls spent what felt like an eternity holding onto each other, blacking out, wanting to vomit, squeezing tighter when one of them wanted to rip the IV out and run. They wouldn't run. Not this time.

Finally, it stopped and they both felt exhausted.

"I never want to feel that again." Alex whispered, her body aching. "You must have hated me."

Kara shook her head. "Never. Your arms got me through it. I never want to feel that way again… I won't. I am never going to let either of us feel that way again. I swear to you, Alex, and I'm not lying this time. Never again."

"I believe you." Alex said, surprising herself. She did feel it though, Kara's honesty. She believed her this time. A part of her knew there was no way to be sure, but that didn't matter. Right now, she felt a dedication from Kara she had not felt in a very long time.

The scene shifted with young Kara listening to Barry Allen on the phone, with him talking her into staying at the Block, asking what she would do if it was Alex who was in her position.

Barry showing up, seeing her at her worst.

"Why did you all let me see him?" Kara asked, genuinely confused.

Alex shook her head, the intense anger she felt towards the Flash toned down now, with a layer of guilt rising up to replace it. "Leslie warned us not to. You hadn't even met her yet, but we had. She told us not to let you become involved in any romantic relationships. You had too many of your own battles to fight to worry about romance and trying to make a relationship like that work. But, we didn't listen. Barry made you smile. We thought you would have another goal, something to reach for. I thought as long as you were happy, maybe it would take your mind off other things. Barry seemed to make you happy... but the Flash didn't, and I didn't see it. A relationship with the Flash was not what you needed."

Kara felt how much Alex mourned her decision to let Barry near Kara when she was still so fragile with her perceptions of herself. Alex looked at her, sighing with regret. "I'm so sorry, Kara. I failed you. We all did. You got better but..."

"I kept pushing him away every time I let him in." Kara realized, interrupting her sister's self-flagellation. "I loved Barry, but he had changed. He never really knew me… not the real me at least. He was my ideal boyfriend. Sweet, funny, cute, a bit of a nerd but in a cool way. He was perfect. But the Flash changed him. I saw him becoming like me. Bruce, Connolly, they wanted to harden him. They did to a point... but I never got over my feelings about the Flash… and it was no secret how I felt about the Flash and that never changed. I separated them in my mind as much as possible. I tried to reconcile the two, even made him that indestructible suit Kelex would control."

"He made you happy for a while." Alex admitted reluctantly, before continuing, "But he did the one thing you would never be able to stand. He tried to convince you over and over again that you needed his protection and Mom and Dad encouraged it. Unlike Dick who didn't give a damn about Mom and Dad's opinion, Barry did everything they asked. They told him to make sure you ate certain foods, to bug you about medication, to take care and protect you. The only way he could ever get you to agree to do something was if he prefaced it by saying Mom or Dad had asked him to.

"As much as I can't stand him, it wasn't all Barry's fault. Our parents, especially Mom, used him to try and manipulate you too. Barry wanted their approval so badly that he would do anything they asked him to… and Mom just kept pushing him at you. She was so bad she even encouraged you to have sex with him every chance she got, acting like it was perfectly normal for her to be all up in your… romantic entanglements. At least Dad wasn't trying to pimp you out." Alex watched her sister's face go still with the revelations of what her family had done. "We're all at fault, Kara, but subconsciously, we were so scared of losing you, we couldn't go through that again… and we would have tried anything to make you happy. Barry believed what they said about you… but the problem is, they were lying to him and themselves. You didn't need him, you never did. You had too much to handle to deal with Barry Allen's insecurities on top of your own."

Kara's face darkened with the memories returning, her unspoken irritation at Barry trying to subtly manipulate her surfacing rapidly now along with a new understanding of her parents' complicity in his actions. "I never wanted protection. I certainly didn't want his. I fought nearly my whole life and suddenly he thought I needed protection. The Flash decided he would take care of Supergirl. He was so insistent that he could protect me, that he was getting better and I shouldn't worry about... do you know how many times I wanted to yell at him, tell him the Flash wasn't good enough to protect me? I didn't need or want that protection, not from my enemies. Powers or not, I still had my demons and I knew how to set them loose. I still had weapons and you always at my back."

Seeing her sister's understanding expression, Kara sighed, relaxing somewhat, accepting what she should have done but was reluctant to do in the past. "I don't see how I will ever be able to open up to anyone… not really. I'm having a hard-enough time with my own life to worry about making someone else happy."

"That's why you held on and pushed him away at the same time. Makes sense now. You were getting happier though, not because of him, but because you felt better about yourself. You were beginning to love your life, get a feel for what your future could be like without the pressures we'd been under… and then the unthinkable happened." Alex told her.

Before Kara could ask what, she felt a blow, one that should have crushed her head.

The girls hit the ground, grabbing their heads, eyes closed.

When their eyes opened they saw it standing over them.

Doomsday.


	19. Chapter 19

**Do not own CW or DC characters**

 **A/N This chapter is the second to last chapters of memories. Next chapter will focus on Alex's year between Seeing Red and Reborn. After that things will get better. Kara and Alex will have a happy ending. Unfortunately to move forward sometimes you have to come to peace with the past. Just an FYI my writing partner AsgardianBlade and I are already planning a possible next story in a new AU universe that could be considered a romantic comedy with a very optimistic Kara and a few other surprises to traditional characters :) Kind of a reward for the readers who have stuck with us through what has been an intense series. We have a ways to go here but I want to thank those readers who have stuck with us through what has been both an intense experience to read and write. We have a ways to go here still, so set back and enjoy!**

 **Chapter 19**

 **Fortress of Solitude**

Leslie took a deep breath as she closed her eyes and stepped through the Rann transporter entering the last remnant of Krypton. She felt refreshed after sleeping several hours and taking a nice long shower. Her recovery time from her heart attack was still lengthy but the Danvers were keeping a close watch on her even while worrying over Kara and Alex. She was fairly certain the robot was monitoring her as well on the down low.

She walked by the designated sleeping chambers, glancing in, seeing Jeremiah and Eliza curled up together, fast asleep. The time Kara and Alex had spent merged was approaching thirty hours and the toll on the parents from their daughters' current situation was wearing them down rapidly. It was getting harder and harder for them to project any confidence that the girls would wake up and be themselves. But Leslie knew better. Those two had proven her wrong before and she would give them the benefit of any doubt at this point.

She rounded the corner, stepping into the area that was designated as Alex's lab, noting the low hum of the Fortress, the structure seeming alive and responsive, another sentient member of the Danvers family. Kelex turned from where he stood, noting her presence with a slight nod, before turning back to continue his vigil, but her gaze was drawn to the young man standing at the foot of the bench where his sisters were laying.

Clark looked up as Leslie came to stand quietly beside him. His expression was sad, his eyes wet, but he was smiling. "You know, Alex is going to have all kinds of trouble walking off the pain her body will be in from lying on that bench for so long. I can hear her complaining already."

Leslie chuckled softly, "Me too, kid, me too. At least she hasn't had a heart attack, so she has me beat."

Clark looked back at his siblings, reaching out to lightly touch Alex's foot, as if trying to reassure himself she was really there. "You know, when Alex came home from the Block, she threw herself into her rehab with the ninja lady and the blonde woman. She and I talked a lot then, about how Kara was still alive, that I had to have hope that we could figure out a way to help her escape the sun… and then it all changed."

His face became somber, his voice cracking slightly. "Mom and Dad told her to stop leading me on, that I needed to accept it and deal with my grief, and she was making it worse. I hardly saw her after that, and when I did, she wouldn't talk to me about Kara. She wouldn't talk to Mom or Dad about Kara either. You would think she had never existed. She never told me about her life either, only asked about mine or what I was doing."

Leslie couldn't speak to what Clark was referring, but she knew. Alex had told her immediately about the ultimatum her parents had given her, and Leslie had agreed with them. It was one of the last nails in the coffin of their patient/doctor relationship before Alex unceremoniously told her she never wanted to see her again or she would kill her. She remained silent as Clark continued to speak.

"She would come to my games, spend time with me on the weekend… but Alex… it was like she was just gone." Clark continued to focus on his oldest sister, a tear falling that he quickly wiped away.

"My parents were always worried about her, what she was doing, her health, constantly nagging her, especially mom. Alex just ignored them. She didn't care. She was either at work, in the Fortress or off on one of her trips… where she apparently killed a lot of people. Did you know Kara killed over ten thousand White Martians in one night? Of course, you did. The two of them… they have killed a lot of people." He shook slightly, as if he were finally saying out loud what he'd been thinking since he'd learned what Alex had been doing with only Kelex watching out for her while the rest of their family was grieving together.

Sighing, he pulled back, wrapping his arms around himself as if to hold all his feelings in. The tears had stopped, but his eyes were slightly red as he faced her. "I'm having a hard time believing that Alex could do that, but I know she did… to protect me. How do I deal with that? Knowing what she did? They were bad people, sure, but couldn't she have taken Bruce, J'onn, the guys, maybe even the DEO and arrested them or something? And what did killing all those people do to her? Every time she returned from one of her trips she looked so tired and unhappy. She was like a different person. I was losing her too and I never knew it."

Leslie cleared her throat before carefully answering, slowly weighing out what she was saying as she said it. "I don't think it's a secret any longer that Alex has as many demons and as much anger in her as Kara does. Concentrating on Kara, helping her, was the only thing keeping Alex in check. With Kara gone, all of Alex's rage was unleashed. It's why I was against Alex going into Kara's mind. They are too close, and they have lived through the same traumas, experienced a lot of the same pain. That said, I've never seen a relationship like theirs. I am confident they are going to come through this, and you will have your sisters back. Regardless, I promise you this… I will do everything I can to help them and your family heal."

She saw she had his attention, his eyes still full of guilt and confusion. She carefully proceeded to try to ease his hurt without betraying any confidence Alex had given her. "Clark, when Alex killed all those people, she didn't do it just to protect you. She needed a way to vent her rage. It's why she wanted no help, no backup. That is not your fault and you need to come to terms with this. I'm beginning to think taking blame for things you aren't responsible for is a Kryptonian trait. But this isn't your fault. Do you understand?"

Clark's eyes seemed to lose focus for several moments before his entire posture relaxed. "I think so. You're saying she would've done what she did regardless, that I was just an excuse?"

"More or less… yes, I think so. I know your sisters have always destroyed any threat to you. When it comes to protecting you, they are of one mind in a way. You have always come first to those two but whatever they did to protect you is not on you." She reached out to cup his chin to fully gain his attention. "Your sisters love you more than anything. You will always be their priority."

Clark stood silently for a moment before he nodded, a small grin on his face. "They are my heroes. I love them so much and have never really told them. I lost Kara, then Alex became distant, but now they're here… and I need to tell them how much they mean to me. They just need to quit being lazy and wake-up." He laughed a little, his throat catching as if he was trying to convince himself.

Leslie squeezed his shoulder and grinned. "Yeah, I need to get my game face on. They were a pain in my ass most days, and I don't see that changing… but I've been wrong before. They may come out of this stronger. If nothing else it will be good to face things head on, things they have gone through together and things that they have kept from each other. Of course, they may come out crazier than before so be ready to hold them down, alright Superman?"

Clark cocked his head slightly, his smile growing wider. "You don't seem as cranky as I remember from that time you yelled at my family about going to the Metropolis memorial."

"I'm not always cranky. You Danvers and men who dress like bats usually are enough to do it. Just wait, you'll see the real me. There is only one way I can try and fix this family and that is my way. It won't be pleasant." Leslie smirked, her eyes lighting up almost evilly.

Clark stared, wide-eyed, his smile fading versus the wide smile of the smirking doctor. For the first time ever, he started to sweat in the perfectly temperature-controlled Fortress as he and the doctor settled in with Kelex to continue their wait.

While their brother and therapist bonded, Kara and Alex only felt pain, weaving in and out of each other's memories to where the torrent being unleashed left them flailing as they fought desperately to hold on to each other.

They were broken inside, flashes of the battle coming at them rapidly, the pain seeming to last forever, the gritty determination to destroy this monster, the panic of seeing Lobo having his heart punched out of his back, J'onn pushing Kara out of the way of a heat vision blast, only to succumb to a fiery hole in his chest.

The nausea of flying in Alex's jet around the skyscrapers of Metropolis, trying to get a better angle, catching Doomsday by surprise, barely dodging massive heat vision blasts. The frustration when none of her weapons did anything but barely catch the monster's attention.

The sisters saw Kara on the ground and Alex screamed, watching her little sister being kicked around like a plaything, something she had never seen in her life. For every blow Kara threw, Alex felt the pain that shot through her arm and back from the force of striking what seemed like an immovable object. The two girls felt the extreme agony Kara felt every time she was struck, breaking something inside her with every blow.

They felt a loss of hope when the Red Lanterns were dispatched so easily by the creature. They just weren't powerful enough to make a difference.

Alex gasped when Kara's leg was snapped, then shook as the solar burst from the House of El symbol shone brightly, filling her with sun light, repairing her broken bones, renewing her hope.

A hope that was shattered moments later when Doomsday knocked her down and landed on her, cracking the formerly invincible symbol on her chest. Kara rolled painfully, unable to breath and moved quickly to gain some space.

It didn't matter. Nothing she did had any real effect. She distracted it, baited it, taunted it, but it was all bravado. Kara knew this was the end and Alex felt something she had never thought her sister would feel in a fight... Resignation.

Kara glanced toward her sister, who had been standing by her side, watching the battle play out but could no longer see her. Her perception changed as her vision seemed to meld into two blended memories. She and Alex had merged, images from different points of view, air and land striking the two rapidly, making them wonder if they were losing their mind, with only a single thought rising to the surface of their joined consciousness.

" _You finally got what you wanted Zor El. You wanted me dead since I was born and now you have finally done it. This is your legacy. A monster who created monsters."_ Kara and Alex whispered. _"You are not even worthy of hell."_

Then a momentary flash, a feeling of utter panic, Alex in the sky seeing Kara barely standing, face nearly unrecognizable, standing and urging the creature on.

Alex screamed in anger when her final missile had no effect other than once again catching the beast's attention. She had expected it to use heat vision on her jet as it had every time. Every attempt had been for naught, the creature too uncontrolled to be precise enough to catch her.

But this time, she felt the blast, the cockpit dropping, fear, anger, defeat. Alex did everything she could to control the pod because if she was dead, Kara was dead. The ground came too quickly, throwing Alex into the cockpit window, causing her to black out.

The two girls were on the ground, having just seen the ship crash.

Resignation was gone. The feeling of death, the surrender to the inevitable. Clinging to her sister, Kara had no idea what was coming next, she could not remember.

But Alex did.

The world around them became silent. Doomsday was not roaring, buildings were not crumbling or burning.

Both girls looked up hesitantly noting the sky was dark. A storm was rolling in, a large red cloud, bright red lightning striking the ground around them.

"What is that, Alex?" Kara asked, feeling fear in her racing heart. Trying to pull her sister away, she was distraught when she couldn't. "Alex, we need to go, we need to get away!"

We can't." Alex told her, eyes glazed over now, focusing on the storm as blood began to rain down on them.

"Alex! I want to go! I don't want this! I'm scared!" Kara was screaming into the wind, but Alex wouldn't be moved.

Instead of listening, Alex stared up into the cloud, drops of blood drenching her face, entranced by what she saw. While Kara felt fear, Alex was radiating anger.

"Alex!" Kara tried, pulling her sister's arm, desperate to save them both from the horror show playing out around them.

"We can't leave! You will die without it!" Alex finally answered her, eyes blazing in fury.

"No! I don't want to remember!" Kara was panicked now, fear radiating through her entire being.

Alex shook her head, Kara barely making out her sister's face through the blood that covered it. "You have to remember. We do. We need to see this. We need to understand. We need to make them all suffer!"

"Those aren't my memories!" Kara shouted, beyond frustrated and very scared now.

Kara tried to grab Alex once again, only to feel Alex pushing her away, anger still radiating from her. It was a feeling Kara knew well. An all-consuming rage… a world where nothing else mattered except the enemy in front of her.

But this was different. For the first time, Kara was scared of this anger. She had never experienced this sense of foreboding. Even she had never felt as much anger as what was radiating from Alex.

Leslie's words came back to her suddenly. _"Do you realize, if Alex had seen you die, that Red Ring had every chance of coming to her?"_

Looking at her sister now, she stared in horror realizing Leslie's supposition was true.

"Alex is dead." the older sister mumbled. "It doesn't matter anymore. Zor El still has one more monster to create."

"You aren't dead, Alex." Kara told her, trying to fight off the fear overwhelming her, to remain calm, snap Alex out of whatever trance she was in, calm her down.

"You aren't here, Kara. You are dead." Alex mumbled; her eyes unfocused.

"Alex! I'm not dead! You aren't dead! We have to leave. I don't want these memories! They aren't ours! They can't be!" Kara begged.

A flash of lighting hit the ground in front of the two, shaking the ground.

"It's the only way." Alex hollered over the howling wind, the blood rain continuing to fall around them. "I won't lose you! There isn't a choice! We never had a damn choice!"

A ring. A red ring that sent shivers through Kara's body.

And Alex was reaching for it.

"Don't touch it, Alex!" Kara pleaded with her sister.

Alex was beyond listening to her sister. She knew what she had to do. Kara would die without it. Alex wouldn't let that happen. If Kara wouldn't take it, then she would. She always did what was necessary to protect Kara, to protect her family.

"With blood and rage of crimson red..." Kara's blood-soaked sister proclaimed loudly.

"Don't! Don't ever say that! Please!" Kara screamed, trying to get Alex's attention.

"Ripped from a corpse so freshly dead…" the rivulets of blood were streaming from Alex down Kara's arms as she wrapped them around her sister, trying to pull her away. For the first time in her life, Kara could not budge her. Her sister's anger was as intense as Kara's fear. Alex raised her arms, throwing Kara back.

"Together with our hellish hate, we will burn you all, that is your fate!" Alex declared.

"Stop!" Kara screamed, sheer panic driving her now.

"No!" Alex shouted. "Zor El can't win! He took you from me! His monster killed you and I will kill that thing. It doesn't matter what I am anymore! Don't you see? This is the answer to everything! This is the power we need! No one can challenge us! Everyone who has ever hurt us will be destroyed!"

Alex's eyes blazed in excitement as she looked at her sister in triumph. "Don't you get it Kara? You're dead! Alex is dead! What does it matter? We can set the Universe on fire, kill every Zor El we find on any planet! I can protect you … protect us! Why didn't I see that? I never saw that."

Her eyes were intensely focused, as she sighed heavily, shaking her head, once again resigned. "We never had a choice." She finished her last statement so quietly Kara could barely hear her.

Alex reached for the ring and it flew onto her finger.

The world exploded around the two.

They were struck by red lighting, but instead of feeling pain, Kara stood still, taking in Alex. Her older sister had changed, a black bodysuit with red shoulders and boots, accompanied by a very black cape. A strange symbol was on her chest, one that caused Kara to scream. Alex's eyes were red orbs of flame, fire rolling behind her smile, trying to leak out.

"This is what we are meant to do! Have you ever felt better in your life?! We are going to burn all our enemies!" Alex screamed, lost as the anger of both sisters rose to the surface.

Then the pain began, both girls dropping to the ground holding their heads as memories rushed them, memories that were not theirs. Their heads began to spin, lost in a world of images, scenes they were lost in. The two knew they had merged, they could not see each other but still felt the warring emotions, fear, love, so much hate, so much rage.

Voices bombarded the girls as they trembled under the onslaught of memories that were not theirs.

" _They killed my family!"_

" _They killed my wife and daughters!"_

" _The Guardians did this!"_

" _I will not stop until the Guardians are slaughtered and Oa is burned from the Universe!"_

"That's not our memory. I don't want it!" Alex heard Kara beg, but it came none the less.

" _Atrocitus. Look, they slaughtered his family, his people. The Manhunters, the Guardians, they did this! Do you see Kara?! Do you understand?"_

"Yes," Kara's voice said, no longer sounding scared. "They have to all die. Bleez. She is so beautiful. What did they do? Why?"

They saw a beautiful winged woman, on her stomach, face down as her wings were ripped off as man after man, Sinestro's Corps, attacked her. The girl had done nothing wrong. She was a princess out of their reach and that was all it took to encourage the yellow clad men to attack her.

Until the ring came to her.

Another ring, one of millions Alex had let loose in the Universe. She needed more followers, more power. The ones that answered the call meant another dead Green Lantern. Oa would be hers.

"They deserve to die." Kara whispered, understanding, feeling the rage coursing through her as she watched the memories of every Red Lantern rushing her, every hurt, every anger they had ever felt was her anger now.

It was too much.

No human mind, no Kryptonian mind… no one could handle this madness.

Locked up. By the same bastards who destroyed his world. Him and four others. Atrocitus's rage so great the power alone formed a battery, remembering rituals of blood magic he had been told of as a child. All he needed was blood to create the rings. The other four Inversions lives would be worth it. Their blood would give him the means of revenge.

Visions of planets being set ablaze. People bleeding, burning, as he chased Sinestro and his followers through the Universe. The two sisters felt themselves unleashing the ring, killing Abin Sur.

War, death, blood, never enough. The Guardians still live. It would never stop until they were gone.

Alex and Kara screamed when the blood entered their mouths, their body fully immersed under the lake of blood. It was dark, so dark and cold but soon it was gone. They were on Krypton, in Midvale, in National City, reliving the events of their lives, changing them, murdering, giving into the power.

Until they calmed. The blood soothed them; feeling returned to their body.

The two sisters were now separated, standing up in the lake of blood, taking in their surroundings. They looked at each other, blood slicking their hair, their faces resembling survivors of a horror movie.

"It hurts." Alex admitted. "We are in hell."

Kara took in the scene around her, feeling the power of the Red Lanterns who stared at her in awe. She looked over the landscape, understanding why Alex believed they were in hell. Because they were.

"What did we do?" Alex mumbled. "I want the Guardians, the Green Lanterns, I want to kill them."

"I do too, but this isn't us. It isn't who we are." Kara told her, moving closer and wrapping her arm around her sister.

"How did you resist? All I want is to go to Oa, I want to destroy them! I need to kill something! It hurts! How did you stop?" Alex asked, leaning into her sister, trying to draw on her strength.

Kara pointed towards the shore to a girl in a white pressure suit.

"Because you were waiting on the shore for me." Kara told her. "I wouldn't leave you, not again."

"But you did." Alex told her sadly, her voice breaking, her heart clenching in despair.

Suddenly, the two were on Mars, high above a pyramid, looking down on a massive gathering of White Martians.

The ring was on fire, their bodies on fire. With a yell, Alex let loose, releasing her ring onto the top of the pyramid, burning the priest and expanding her energy until the structure shown red and exploded.

On the ground, so much anger, so much power. It was intoxicating. It felt better than any alcohol, any drug she had ever taken. They killed everything, once more lost in a rage, she and Kara losing themselves and becoming something more powerful, unrecognizable.

Tall short, male, female, it didn't matter, wave after wave of fire, energy surges, heat vision, they all burned. This was what Red Lanterns did.

A voice floated towards them, breaking through their single-minded compulsion to destroy. _"Kara! Just wanted to let you know Alex will be waking up soon."_ Gardner told them. _"You don't want to worry her, do you? Shouldn't you be there when she wakes?"_

"You." Kara said, her awareness separating slightly from her sister's. "Alex, you were always the key, the reason I didn't burn the world, the reason I didn't lose myself."

"You wanted to help people. That was always in you." Alex told her. "You wanted to save children, be the savior your father never was for you. You weren't all anger, Kara. You were love too. But the love came with a high price, just like everything in our lives."

Kara saw through Alex's eyes, sitting in her lab in the Fortress, a large scan on the monitor of the Red Ring.

"Damn it!" she yelled, standing up and throwing her chair at the monitor. "I don't understand this thing! It shouldn't be possible! How the hell do I get it off of her, Kelex? Give me some damn answers because I don't have any!"

"It will take time..." the AI tried.

"I don't have time! She is going to lose herself. Every time she uses that damn thing, it's like she is drinking again. She can't hold it off forever!" Alex shouted, so frustrated and angry, Kelex literally ducked in an attempt at self-preservation behind the only standing monitor as she ranted. "The damn thing talks to her in her sleep! It's alive but it isn't! These damn Red Lanterns are watching her. They want to take her away, want her to be a God, lead them to some glorious revenge! All it would take is for one little thing to make her snap and she is gone! I feel like I am losing her! I don't want Gardner anywhere around her, but Mom and Dad think letting her go to the damn moon to blow off steam with him is a good idea. They won't listen to me! Why am I always doing this on my own?! Always!"

A man in an overcoat. A dead finger spinning.

The Inversions inside the ring, the source of the voices, the first source of rage, victims of Atrocitus and the Guardians. They fought, fought so hard and they won. They were on a level playing field, no powers but it didn't matter.

"We always won." Kara whispered. "Didn't we?"

Alex shook her head. "Every time we won, we lost something. Then, we lost everything, because of Zor El. His monsters would never stop coming. They were our curse."

Kara shook her head. "My curse."

"Our curse." Alex shook her head sadly. "He finally succeeded in splitting us apart. He finally won."

Kara felt herself in a freefall. She had spent her whole life on Earth flying but this was different, this was out of control.

The wings on the gliding suit did their job but not well enough. Kara couldn't slow down.

She had a black crystal in one hand. All she had to do was hold on and press the crystal to the glowing creature floating in the sky below her.

Somehow, despite the pain of the collision, despite feeling her upper body was crushed, she held on. One arm wrapped around the Worldkiller's neck and the other pressing a crystal she had clung to with a death grip to the monster's forehead. She felt the glowing creature die, as it dropped towards the ground and let go. The pain overtook her, and her only escape was darkness.

A hospital bed, Lobo was over her. "Promise... promise to help Kara." she whispered.

"Go to sleep, Alex." her large friend told her.

"Why did I need help? Kara asked.

Alex was suddenly beside her.

"Because of this." the older sister told her, tears in her eyes.

Alex felt the fire pouring out of her mouth, the incredible feeling of letting go of the rage inside her as it manifested in an all-consuming blaze.

"You should have knelt when I gave you the chance." she told the collection of ash where Reign had once stood.

Her eyes turned towards the sky, even in the daylight she could see the battle being waged in space above the planet.

A feeling of exhilaration, losing herself to her new addiction, glutting on the power inside her. The rush of flying through the ships, seeing the panicked faces of the Diasporans who knew they were dead.

Unleashing her rage on her enemy, incinerating everything. First the invaders, then the Green Lanterns, and then to Oa. It was perfect. She had never felt so certain in her life.

Then darkness covered her. She felt the slimy goo, covering her body, invading her mouth, her nose and her ears. Her ring had abandoned her. She was being killed in the worst manner imaginable.

Kara and Alex were alone and knew they were slipping into oblivion, not allowed to die physically but knowing they were disappearing into nothingness.

Alex was afraid, knowing what was coming. She understood what had happened but being here, being inside Kara's mind, feeling her emotions, her hopelessness. Her despair.

The sadness Kara felt when she realized what she had to do. The agony.

"Don't do this, please. Find another way." Alex begged her, tears streaming now, her expression drawn in agony.

Kara's face was once more one of resignation, tears pooling in her eyes. "There is no other way. I wish there was."

A determination filled her; she saw Alura beckoning her home; Bruce, looking at her with despair behind his black cowl. She gave him a message for her sister. She asked him to tell Alex she was sorry, that she had no choice.

Both girls screamed when their world lit up in fire, their body burning to nothing, the ring destroyed, the pain of the Worldkiller dying inside of them as their body burned.

Yet Kara held on. "I'm not going to die, Alex. I won't leave you."

Kara focused on her brain, her eyes nearly burned to nothing and she did it. Somehow she opened herself up to the sun, absorbing the radiation, her brain and spine still in one piece while the rest of her was gone. The feeling was one of extreme pain and extreme ecstasy. She would live, somehow she would escape. She would get back to Alex.

Alex was sitting in the Fortress, a gun in her hand, firing at the wall, bullet after bullet, having no effect on the crystal walls. It didn't matter. The girl just needed a release. She was frustrated, her anger building. Anger at Kara, anger at the so-called Justice League, anger at her parents because they should have been here helping her!

"Kelex." she looked at her friend, setting down her gun, sweat glistening on her forehead. "How can we get a Rann Transporter into the sun, strong enough to survive the heat and pull her out? We need to think of a metal! A combination of metals, something! Maybe a crystal, what about a Phantom Zone projector? I can go into the Phantom Zone and get her. We just have to make sure the damn thing can bring us back to the time we leave."

Despite Alex's agitation, Kelex calmly replied. "The search could take years. I have Justin going over every possibility. Until I can figure this out, you need to rest. You had surgery a week ago. You should not be firing a weapon."

Alex didn't want to rest nor did she want his advice on her health. "Shut the hell up and tell me how we can get her out. The longer she is in there..."

"Quiet, Alex!" Kelex snapped, surprising the woman and stopping her rant. He continued in a softer tone. "I apologize but that seemed like the best way to get your attention. It is likely Kara sustained massive damage to her body when she entered the sun. The Red ring is gone according to Gardner, so she must have had complete blood loss. What is left of her will need time to regenerate. Even if we had a way to pull her out, doing so too soon may be fatal. Unless her body is whole we cannot retrieve her. We have to know her state before anything else. That means we have to deduce a way to place a drone or find something that can see into the core of the sun. Something like this has never existed to my knowledge. This means we have to make it ourselves. It could take years and we have to accept that."

Alex shook her head. "We don't have years. I want her back now! I need her! Think Kelex! Quantum physics, drones, solar power, Phantom Zone projectors, Rann transporters, that was always Kara's thing. I followed her lead and she relied on me for more biological issues. There has to be another way! We are missing something. What are we missing?"

Kelex hesitated then answered. "Barry Allen."

"What about him?" Alex asked perplexed.

"I suggest we examine Kara's time in the Block, beginning after withdrawals, perhaps when she began making progress in therapy. We formulate a plan, cover every possible change to the timeline that could occur and determine an appropriate time to have Barry Allen travel back in time and warn you of what is coming. Knowing the information of the past year beforehand would allow us to change the course of events and alter reality. We could save Kara before she ever comes into danger."

Alex sat speechless for a moment. "You're a damn genius."

"Of course I am." Kelex agreed. "We would have to convince him to do it. He has disappeared since Kara went into the sun."

Alex nodded. "Because he thinks she is dead. He is like Dick Grayson. Obsessed with her. The man told me he has every magazine Kara has ever been on the cover of in the six years they were apart."

She began pacing as a plan formulated in her mind. "He was wrecked when she dumped him. It would be easy to talk him into it. He would do anything to have her. I can tell him I will help him, get her to take him back, tell him how happy they could be if she had never taken the ring. She would never have broken up with him."

She stopped and turned abruptly. "Find him and have Justin start going over scenarios."

"What if we do this and she does not take him back or separates from him regardless?" Kelex asked.

"Who gives a damn!" Alex shouted. "I just have to convince him she will, that's all it will take. He would do anything for her. She could lead him around by a collar if she wanted. Barry won't turn down that chance. Find him now, I don't care what resources we have to use but do not let Bruce find out! Block Brother Eye from our scans."

Kara placed her hand on Alex's shoulder. "I get it. You were desperate. Changing the timeline though..."

Alex turned towards her sister. "He saw you. For all the talk about time travel being dangerous, Barry risked traveling back in time and saw you and still refused to change a damn thing. He said goodbye. So, just … don't Kara. I remote destroyed his suit when I returned. I thought of killing him but had better targets in mind."

Kara found herself in their house, Alex on the floor, doing sit ups. Kara could feel the pain, the stinging sensations from the recently removes stiches, the ache in her abdomen, her still bruised chest.

The doorbell rang.

Alex got up slowly, her muscles sore. She knew her parents were at work and Clark was at school. Taking a gun from the desk, she hid it behind her back and opened the door.

Nyssa al Ghul and Sara Lance were in the doorway.

"I have been where you are." Nyssa told her without preamble.

"I doubt it." Alex replied.

Nyssa nodded, not disagreeing, knowing their two situations may have been similar but still very different. "You want to destroy the world, don't you?"

Alex said nothing.

"Cadmus, correct?" Nyssa pressed her.

Alex gave a slight nod. "For starters…"

"How long until the doctors believe you can fully recover from your injuries?" the former assassin asked.

"Ten weeks before I can start exercising again." Alex said, wondering why Nyssa wanted to know.

Nyssa looked at Sara then back to Alex. "You told me once that Kara needed a hospital not some herbal cure and meditation. You were right. Now however, the doctors have had their chance with you. If you do what I tell you too, eat what I feed you, sleep when I tell you, do no more or less than I instruct, I can have you battle ready in four weeks. The choice is yours."

"Why do you care?" Alex asked suspiciously.

Nyssa was silent for a moment, the sorrow in her eyes evident, but her sincerity was as well. "Kara helped me get through my grief, helped me get my revenge. I owe her for that. I know you will never know peace until you release what is inside you. Yes or no, do you accept my offer?"

Alex looked over Nyssa's shoulder. "You two together now?"

Both women looked at each other and nodded towards Alex.

She relaxed slightly, a slight twinge of hope peeking through the devastation. "You can sleep together in the guest room. I don't want Kara's room touched until she gets back."


	20. Chapter 20

**Do not own CW or DC characters**

 **Chapter 20**

"What are you eating, Alex?" Eliza asked her daughter as she sat down for dinner with her parents and Clark at their home.

Alex shrugged her shoulders, looking at the Tupperware container she had brought, containing some sort of noodles, mixed with various herbs and beans.

"I have no idea what this is. Nyssa said to eat it so I'm eating it." Alex told her mother dismissively.

Her mother made a disparaging noise before replying, "You aren't supposed to be eating much solid food yet, remember? I checked with Shay and she said you could start eating soup or stew..."

Alex looked up at her mother, lowering her fork, wrangling her temper back under control. "Veritas can go to hell. She isn't my doctor. I know my body and I know what it needs."

Jeremiah watched her closely, obviously noting that the hand holding her fork was slightly shaking. "What about Leslie? Is she still your doctor? Have you been taking your anti-anxiety meds?" her father asked, his tone somewhat challenging.

Alex shook her head, annoyed. "They slow me down."

"You are supposed to slow down!" Eliza snapped. "You haven't been cleared for work yet and you aren't allowed to exercise for another few months and only then lightly. Do I need to remind you..."

"I don't need you to remind me of anything." Alex told her coldly. "I have business to take care of and it won't wait six months. If you want to give advice, go to the Fortress and help Kelex figure out a way for a crystal to store a Rann transporter and reintegrate it in a half second in the core of the sun. I know what I am doing."

The family ate in silence for a few moments, Alex wondering why the hell she was even here when she had so much work to get done. She had spent the day meditating to her disappointment instead of combat training, but she had agreed to follow Nyssa's instructions.

"You really think she could be alive?" Clark finally asked her quietly.

Alex's expression softened as she looked him in the eyes. "I know she is. We just have to figure out a way to bring her back if she can't get back herself. Don't worry, it's going to be okay."

Eliza dropped the spoon into the bowl she was eating from, her hand still shaking. "Clark, why don't you go to the Fortress for a little while? I want to talk to Alex about her house guests."

"Why? They're helping her get better, aren't they?" Clark looked between his mother and Alex. When neither said a word, he leaped to the most obvious explanation. Looking at his sister with wide eyes, he said anxiously, "I thought you said you were done. No more fighting, remember? After the invasion, that would be it. Please, Alex, no more!"

Alex patted the boy reassuringly on his shoulder. "This isn't superhero or DEO stuff, Clark. I still have business left unfinished. Something Hank Henshaw started when he arrived at this house 13 years ago and I plan to finish it now. It's going to be okay. Go to the Fortress. Let Kelex tell you what he is working on, get him to teach you about the crystals. You need to know about the crystals and the physics of them. Believe me, I wish I had paid more attention in college to physics. Go."

Clark still looked distressed, but dutifully rose from his seat as the rest of the family sat in silence waiting on the familiar hum from the basement telling them the boy was now at the bottom of the world.

"Ask your questions about my houseguests." Alex told them shortly.

Jeremiah cleared his throat, a bit nervous at the edge in Alex's tone. "We only met Nyssa once, briefly but we know who she is and what she does. The blonde woman..."

"Sara Lance." Alex succinctly filled in the blank.

Jeremiah nodded in recognition. "Right... Sara Lance. The one who was dead and came back to life...why are they really here, Alex? What is going on?"

Alex stared at her father, glancing over at her mother, knowing how they were going to respond before she even answered. "They are here to help me heal and prepare. Since the world thinks Kara is dead, Cadmus has been open with communications again. They are using cell phones, emails, the dark web, military back channels… you name it. They are giving me a roadmap of targets. We even know where Lillian Luthor and Sam Lane are holed up. Cadmus thinks it is safe for them to target aliens again. I'm going to burn their organization to the ground and kill them all. That's what is going on. I have to hit fast though. As the bases fall, word will reach the others and they will go silent again. Still, I don't believe they will go completely silent. Thanks to Lois Lane, the world is convinced Kara is dead, so it works in my favor. They won't panic, they will just tighten security. I have the locations already and they won't have time to pack up and move. There is nowhere for them to hide anymore."

Eliza picked up her spoon with her still shaking hand and tried to take another bite. She failed. "Alex, just let it go. Bruce, the others, they can handle this. Give them the information and let's move on. We need to be supporting each other..."

"Then support me!" Alex exclaimed, cutting her mother off. "Tell the Dean I will be back at work in six weeks. Let him know I will consider the CDC's request and have an answer by then. I need to keep up appearances. We all do."

Kara said nothing as she watched this memory unfold. Tears fell down her face as she saw her parents barely holding together, her brother lost, confused, scared and heartbroken. She acutely felt her sister's pain and growing isolation. She was beginning to really understand how her loss had devasted her family as she watched the once tight family unit shatter before her eyes.

Her sister said nothing, but Kara could feel her anger humming below the surface of Alex's calm façade. She also sensed understanding, their parents' arguments making sense to her sister, but Alex's deep hurt over their parents' refusal to acknowledge it was possible Kara was alive ultimately driving her anger towards them.

The two watched as Alex stood from the table and walked out quickly, making her way home. Once there she would concentrate on falling asleep, something her body desperately needed but her mind hadn't allowed recently.

A week later, Alex was asleep, curled up in Kara's bed. She woke at three AM and went to the restroom.

When she opened the door, the roaring face of Doomsday abruptly appeared. Alex fell back and retreated until her back was against Kara's bed, reaching for a gun on her hip that was not there. Her scream brought Sara and Nyssa flying into the room ready for battle. Seeing no enemy, Sara grabbed her by the shoulders, shaking her.

"Alex!" the blonde screamed at her, hoping to get through to the panicked woman.

Alex's eyes slowly began to focus on Sara, and she was extremely confused. Sara hadn't been there when Doomsday had struck. What was she doing here now?

The woman took deep breaths and looked carefully into the dark bathroom. Doomsday was not there. He was dead, she remembered. Burned into ash by her little sister.

"Sara?" Alex began trembling uncontrollably.

"Yeah, it's okay. Here, take this." Sara slipped an unloaded gun into Alex's hand and the woman felt much better. She was able to go back to sleep for another thirty minutes holding her gun before she woke to begin training.

During the second week, Nyssa taught her a new way to meditate. Alex had been unable to clear her mind since they started so the former assassin decided on a different approach.

"Think of your body. This has been a method used by monks and assassins for centuries." Nyssa told her, her voice calm and comforting. "Feel it, concentrate only on the parts of you that are damaged, that are weak. Focus all your mental energy on those parts. The mind tells the body what to do, so if your mind demands that it heal faster, your body will obey. Keep in mind your goal, why you need to be strong and you will be."

By the end of the second week, Alex and Sara were doing sprints on the beach, while Nyssa watched closely. Alex felt good. The food she ate tasted horrible, her sleep was nearly nonexistent, but it allowed her more time to focus on her own body in the dark of night.

The flashbacks did not stop, and she had taken to carrying a knife with her at all times, strapped to her calf. Alex had seen Non, Astra, White Martians, Henshaw, and a host of other enemies she and Kara had fought at one time or another. Her flashbacks had become so real she had difficulty bringing herself back to reality. Alex had even attacked Sara one night when the blonde had been in the kitchen getting a glass of water, thinking she was Astra. The woman felt horrible about that, but Sara understood. She knew about demons that haunted a person in the waking world.

The third week, they began sparring. Alex increased her workout routine, meditated at night rather than sleeping, sparred outside, bare fisted against Nyssa and Sara, sometimes the two of them together.

They sparred in the yard, in the old training grounds Kara used once for flight training, even in the house.

By the end of the fourth week, Alex was physically healed. Kelex confirmed she was in excellent health, similar to before the invasion, but she didn't need his confirmation. Alex had always relied on her body as her primary weapon and she knew her weapon was ready.

Alex asked the two to stay for a fifth week. She wanted more. She needed to be sharper, better than she had ever been. She and Kara had always been a team. Now she was alone.

Bruce had offered to help her, be her backup as had her old mentor, Connolly. J'onn tried his best to talk her out of her mission. She refused them all.

Kara was her partner and for the moment Kara was gone.

The stronger she became, the less the flashbacks, the hallucinations and nightmares occurred. The tremors that were common in the early days after her surgery were gone. She felt like herself again.

On the last night, she had taken down Sara and Nyssa, none of them holding back.

"You're ready." Nyssa told her, a huge smile on her face as Alex held a blade to her throat.

Lowering the blade, Alex helped Nyssa to her feet, then bowed respectfully to both women. "Thank you. Thank you both."

Nyssa bowed her head in return and walked back towards the house while Sara accompanied Alex to the beach. The sun had just set and the two started a fire.

Nyssa arrived minutes later, a sheathed katana in her hand. She knelt by Alex near the fire and pulled the sword from its scabbard. Alex couldn't help but admire the way the flames glinted off the blade.

Nyssa handed the blade to Alex. As she carefully took the sword, Alex leaned closer to the fire, examining the weapon. It was beautiful. On the blade she noticed an engraving, the words 'Al Malak' carved into the steel.

Nyssa spoke softly then, almost reverently. "I realize you prefer firearms and knives, but this blade is special."

She hesitated a moment before continuing her story. "After Kara killed my father and passed on the mantle of Ra's Al Ghul to me, we had a ceremony. I had our finest sword maker prepare this for her. I named her 'Heir to the Demon'. Should I have fallen, she would have stood in my place. Of course Kara had no need for a sword. She had never trained with one regardless. Still… she loved this katana."

"Al Malak." Alex said quietly. "You called her that at the Block. It means 'the Angel', doesn't it?"

Nyssa nodded. "Take it for what you will. Angel of Death. Angel of Vengeance. Angel of Justice. To me, she will always be the Angel. Do this for me. When this is over, when only one remains, use this katana, take his head and leave it buried in his chest. Let those prisoners you free know the Angel was their salvation."

"I swear it will be done." Alex told her.

The next morning, Alex said farewell to the two women who had become her friends. Alex had spent time with Nyssa in the past, but she found herself drawn to Sara as well. The two had sat up many nights when neither could sleep, just talking. They talked about life, irony, cruel fate, death. Alex found to her surprise that the two were very similar in many ways. Sara even told her about Laurel's battle with substance abuse, how she had watched her sister become someone she didn't know before she got help. Sara knew about bloodlust and how it affected someone, how it was just as addictive as alcohol and drugs.

Alex would miss her… would miss them both.

Kara stood silently, taking in the scene when Alex said fondly, "They were willing to help me as I needed them too. They weren't pushing me to do anything I didn't want, not really. They helped give me focus and made me stronger… faster."

Alex studied Kara's face while her sister watched as Nyssa and Sara faded into memory. "They were good for me at a time I really needed someone who understood what I was going through."

Kara's voice cracked slightly, as she spoke. "Your feelings seem calmer now, in this place. I sense you see what I always saw in Nyssa… someone who had so many demons, so much pain, but still cared to help those she saw suffering."

Alex smiled, taking her sister's hand and squeezing lightly. "Sounds like someone else I know."

Memories moved slowly but steadily now as Alex moved the two through them. Kara observed her sister as she prepared her weapons, planned her attacks, returned to work, assisted Kelex, and studied everything there was to know about the star her sister was trapped inside. She took up her medical research and added CDC consulting to her duties. She did everything she could to avoid going home to an empty house, or despair because she was no closer to getting Kara home that when she had begun.

She ate breakfast every morning at work with her parents. She agreed to see Leslie once or twice a month as she had time. She lied; told everyone she was taking her medication just to get them off her back.

It was at breakfast in the campus cafeteria when her parents struck, apparently hoping Alex would not make a scene in front of the entire staff.

"Alex," Eliza began, "we need to talk."

"We talk every day." Alex pointed out, flippantly.

Eliza's expression grew annoyed as she looked at her husband. At Jeremiah's encouraging nod, she said, "We need to talk about Clark, in a place he can't hear."

Alex knew this was a lie. Clark could easily hear from Midvale to Raleigh if he wished. She knew they wanted to talk in a place where they hoped she wouldn't lose her temper.

"You're lying, but ok, let's talk." Alex told them.

"Clark is confused." Jeremiah told her, obviously wary from her response. "He doesn't know what to believe. This talk of getting Kara back... Alex, Kara is gone."

"Why are you so sure?" Alex asked, desperately trying to keep herself calm.

Her father replied, "Gardner told us four Red Lanterns died when their rings exploded the moment Kara entered the sun just from some surge of power. We have gone over every possibility with Shay and there is no way even she could survive. I want to think she is coming back to us any day too. We miss her, Alex. Clark misses her. But he needs..."

"Closure." Eliza finished; her eyes wet. "This false hope you are giving him is tearing him apart. He needs to mourn… so do you. We all do, Alex."

"Kelex believes she is alive." Alex pointed out, tightening her fists under the table.

"Kelex will believe whatever you tell him to believe." Jeremiah told her quietly. "If you believe..."

"Kelex is sentient. He tells me what he believes, and he knows it is possible." Pushing her tray away and resting both arms on the table, she leaned forward, her tone heated but controlled. "Tell me, since we have known the apparently all-knowing Shay Veritas, what has she ever done to help Kara? Hmm? She couldn't make the drugs without Caitlin Snow, she couldn't figure out a way to get the ring off her, even after studying Gardner's ring for a month… she figured out nothing. Why would you take anything she says as truth?"

Eliza cleared her throat and wiped her eyes. "We have looked into this too, Alex. The pressure at the core of the sun...no one, not even Kara could be that strong. You know very well what happened when she burned herself with heat vision. You saw what her heat vision did to Non. If she could burn herself, what would the sun do to her? I know this is hard to hear but you know it is the truth. Until you come to terms with this… that Kara is gone and not coming back, you won't begin healing."

Alex laughed bitterly. "You would like that, wouldn't you?" she asked her mother. "Kara gave you your son and now she is gone. Life must be simpler for you now. You always were jealous of her, jealous that she shared blood with him, and you didn't..."

"Alex!" Jeremiah nearly shouted. "Why the hell would you say that?! You know that isn't true! We loved her with everything we had, we still do. Would you listen to yourself? Apologize now!"

Alex stood up. "Go to hell. You believe what you want. Put up a stone in the yard and lay flowers next to it so you can all feel better. I'll be actually doing something about getting her home. I'll be gone the next four days starting tomorrow. I've told the Dean I'm doing field work for the CDC. I'll tell Kelex to let you know when I've made it back."

Jeremiah grabbed her hand before she could walk off. "Where are you going?"

Alex looked down at his hand gripping hers, then looked him in the eye as she clenched her teeth and pushed down her instincts to physically retaliate. He was still her father, and no matter how angry she was, she didn't want to hurt him. "I'd suggest you remove your hand before I remove it for you."

Jeremiah abruptly removed the hand, apparently understanding she was holding back and not wanting to push her further.

She leaned down and whispered in his ear, the rage she was barely holding back evident in her voice as she coldly replied. "I'm going to make sure your son is safe. It's what Kara and I have always done. It isn't your problem."

Alex saw the grief and despair in his eyes, but she was beyond caring. "Now… just so we're clear… _don't you ever tell me to move on again_. I know she is alive. So, you and mom keep lying to Clark, tell him she is gone but I won't lie to him. One day, she will come back to me… you'll see."

Kara stood by her sister, tears streaming down her face, feeling the anger, the bitterness in Alex's memories as they watched Alex back away from their father and walk away.

"They wouldn't even consider that I was right about you." Alex spoke softly as Kara became aware of her sister standing behind her. "They refused to have any hope and left me alone to figure out how to get you back. Only Kelex believed it was possible you survived."

Kara was shaking now, softly sobbing, her eyes and face red as she turned to face her sister. "Alex, you were right, but from what they knew, so were they. They were doing the best they could. They had to do what was best for Clark. But they love us too… and they only wanted what was best for you too, I have to believe that."

Alex knew she couldn't hide her pain or her anger from Kara in their merged state. She didn't even try to respond to her sister's statements because rationally, she could understand them. But with everything she had lived through when Kara was gone, it wasn't something she was willing to admit or let go of as if it had never happened. She had lost faith in her parents and their relationship with her wasn't going to be fixed quickly, but Kara was right. Her parents loved her and if their family was going to heal… if she was going to heal, she was going to have to let go of her anger.

Despite Alex's reluctance to speak, Kara heard all those thoughts, felt every emotion as Alex simply stood there watching her. Kara could sense her sister's apprehension and was very nervous to see what was coming next. She didn't have to wait long.

Kara was overwhelmed with grief as Alex's memories played out and she watched the last bonds tying their family together falling totally apart, the individual members living separate lives, the lines of communication severed between them, the front they showed the world a complete fabrication.

She witnessed Alex, killing Lillian Luthor, emptying the rest of her clip into Sam Lane's body. Kara saw Bruce talking her out of killing Lucy Lane, her sister reluctantly giving into his argument.

She watched Alex at their home, alone, feeling empty inside, sleeping at the lab, despair filling her every night as she and Kelex came no closer to finding a way to bring her home.

She felt the excitement every time Kelex picked up something unusual from the sun and the overwhelming depression when it turned out to be nothing.

Kara watched her sister go through bases, Cadmus operatives falling from gunshots, plasma bolts, inferno blasts, dwarf star grenades. Bodies being burned to bone and ash, heads being taken off, throats being slit.

Kara was no stranger to killing. She had practically perfected it. The difference that she was experiencing now was that before she had taken the red ring, she had never felt the level of anger Alex was feeling as she unleashed hell on Cadmus. It was frightening as she struggled to keep her sister's rage from engulfing her.

She desperately tried to feel Alex's pride every time hundreds of alien prisoners were released but could not find it. Alex saved the aliens but that was not what she was there for.

When the last man had been found, a general, the last standing member of Cadmus was dead, Alex covered in his blood and Kara's sword planted in his chest, Kara recognized a feeling she had become very intimate with.

Nothingness. Kara had learned many times, over and over, that once the enemy was dead, the mission completed, the hole had not been filled.

Alex had completed her mission, but nothing had changed. She had unleashed her anger, but Kara was still gone. The house was still empty, no one was sitting with her at night watching television, sharing ice cream, or throwing popcorn at her.

Kara was still gone. As the months went by Alex felt more and more desolate.

The fights with her parents had turned to long periods of silence. Alex would visit Clark and find Eliza sitting on Kara's former bed, holding a picture of the girl and crying. Jeremiah looked lifeless and tired constantly. He put on a brave face for Clark, but the man had changed. He wouldn't even look at the telescope on the deck, the one he and Kara had spent so much time looking through. He still hung her drawings, her paintings around the house, changing them out every month.

Kara was understanding what had happened to her family while she was away. Alex felt empty inside, lonely, angry, betrayed and given up on. Eliza and Jeremiah grieved, and Clark...

Kara watched through Alex's eyes as the happy boy he had been turned into a young adult bitter towards the human race. She saw the deterioration of her family, a family that had been so strong, survived so much, all to be brought down by her apparent death.

She saw everything through Alex's eyes, felt her at night, the hallucinations and flashbacks that had come back with the death of Cadmus, the loneliness, watching the sky and begging Kara to come back to her.

"I'm so sorry, Alex." Kara whispered to her sister.

"It wasn't your fault." Alex told her quietly. "Like I said before we never should have split up. We would have found a way. Bruce could have taken... I could have been there... I know we would have found a way, just like we always did. We made a mistake. We became too confident, never really thought anything could beat us and separated. I nearly died, you nearly burned up."

Kara shook her head, taking Alex's hand gently. "It's not just that. It's everything. I put you all through hell. I put myself through hell and hurt everyone around me. I see now. I understand. While we never had a choice in what life threw at us, we did have a choice in how we handled it. I handled it badly and everyone suffered for it."

"There's plenty of blame to go around, but maybe we can learn from all this." Alex told her with a tired smile, pulling Kara in and wrapping a comforting arm around her shoulders. "We are still here and now we'll have plenty of time for clown college, right?"

The two women suddenly found themselves in a familiar area but before they had a chance to place the moment, a blonde streak flew into a thick tree knocking it down with a loud crash.

They watched the young blonde stand up, brushing off dirt from her blue flight suit as a young skinny brunette ran towards her.

"You okay?" young Alex asked her little sister.

"I'm never going to make these turns, Alex." Kara told her sadly as she reached for her sister's hand. "I'm tired. I just want it to stop."

Both girls stood unmoving for a few moments, before looking up at their older counterparts and slowly walking towards them.

Kara and Alex saw their younger selves, Alex wearing shorts, not hiding her scraped knees and the bruises from sparring, Kara her blue bodysuit with broken sensors flashing on and off, leaves in her hair and dirt on her face.

The two young girls looked exhausted. Their eyes showing how worn out they were.

"We don't want to do this anymore." young Kara told the older girls. "We are tired."

Young Alex nodded her head and took her little sister's hand. "Is it over? Please say it's over."

Kara knelt in front of the smaller girls and looked at little Alex who had tears in her eyes. "Yeah, it's over. We won, and now it's time to rest."

"No more? You promise?" little Kara asked. "Will the nightmares go away?"

"Yeah, they will. We have done enough. Thank you both." Kara told their younger selves.

"For what?" young Alex asked.

"For making us strong enough to survive." Alex told her younger self with conviction. "We are still here because of what you two did and now it's over. It's time to go home."

A smile appeared on both young faces as they joined hands and skipped off into the distance before fading away.

Alex smiled softly at her sister. "I guess it's time for us to go home too."

"Yeah." Kara's returning smile was wistful. "Do you think we'll be okay? Me and you, our family? We have so much to work through, I just… I don't know…" she shook her head, still distraught at what she had seen and felt through her sister's eyes during the year she was gone.

Alex reached out, wiping an errant tear away as she comforted her little sister. "Kara, I can't pretend I'm not angry, even though I understand where mom and dad are coming from. I can't pretend we can kiss, hug and make-up and everything go back to the way it used to be. But I can promise that I will try to let it go so we can move on."

Alex sighed, forcibly relaxing her body. "We have so much to work through. I have all the issues from the past year, plus what happened in our past. Leslie will have her work cut out for her. But she is willing to help us, to help our family, so the least I can do is be willing to meet her halfway and not be so defensive... no matter how hard that woman pushes my buttons."

Kara choked back a sob and drew Alex into a thankful hug. "We will do this like we do everything else… together. I won't leave you again, Alex."

Stepping back, Kara took a deep breath, looking at the destroyed trees around her with a small smile.

"It's over. It's finally over." she told her sister. "I want to go home."

Alex silently agreed, looking around the area. "Yeah, now we just have to figure out how to wake up. Since we're merged, I have no idea how to even begin. I know Kelex won't risk hurting us either… I feel he would've tried to wake us earlier if he thought it was safe. We're going to have to do it ourselves."

Kara looked concerned, easily sensing her sister's worry. "Well, I have no idea how to separate us, it wasn't like we planned it."

Abruptly, the two girls were thrown into another place, one they both recognized, Kara from her memories and Alex from holograms and video she had seen at the Fortress.

They were in a bedroom on Krypton. Unlike Kara's bedroom, this area had two beds side by side, only a small table separating them.

"Is this your memory?" Alex asked.

Kara shook her head. "I've never been in this room before," she told Alex shakily.

The two jumped slightly when the door opened. Two teenage girls walked in and sat next to each other on one of the beds.

Walking closer to have a better look, Alex and Kara noted they were twins, only a single streak of white hair on one of the girls separating one from the other. The Danvers sisters froze in recognition.

The girl on the left, one Kara instinctively knew was her mother began crying. A young Astra had taken her hand. "So... who have you been assigned to mate with?"

Alura grimaced and wiped her eyes furiously. "Zor El." she spat.

Astra cringed but tried to remain positive. "The House of El. It could be worse."

Alura looked at her in disgust. "How? Have you met him?"

"Have you met Non?" Astra asked. "The man is scum and so proud that he is joining our house. He obviously thinks I am some step in his career ladder."

Alura shook her head as she obviously disagreed. "You will always outrank him. He will be forced to take our House's name. On the other hand, I will be forced to become an El."

Astra nodded her head, squeezing Alura's hand tighter. "The House of El is one of the most influential houses in our history. You will be a part of that."

Alura's voice shook as she fought back tears. "In the past, yes. But Zor and his brother...arrogant, cold... Father is not happy with either of our assignments. He may not say it, but I know he is not happy. Zor is a cruel man."

"So is Non. I won't let them hurt either of us. I will protect you, Alura. I will always protect you." Astra wrapped her arms around her distraught sister and Alura curled up into that safe haven, feeling the comfort that only her sister could give her.

Kara and Alex stood transfixed, not understanding how they were seeing a memory neither of them had lived through but drawn to this innocent view of the In-Ze sisters. They couldn't help but feel compassion for the two young women given their unenviable predicament.

The scene faded as they found themselves in a grassy field, beautiful, snow-covered mountains in the distance, a ringed planet shining in the sky.

"What was that? And where are we now?" Alex asked, getting worried, sensing Kara was just as confused.

Glancing around, the two noticed a woman walking towards them. As she drew closer, Kara gasped, while Alex went totally still in shock.

Alura Zor-El smiled as she calmly addressed the dumbstruck younger women. Reaching out, she took one of Kara's hands in hers and one of Alex's in her other. "My beloved daughter... I am so grateful to see you again. And you, Alex, you have no idea how much I love you for always protecting and loving my Kara."

The girls glanced at each other before looking back at the older Kryptonian. Alura understood. "I know you have questions. I am here to help you answer them, and to help you find some closure."


	21. Chapter 21

**Do not own DC or CW characters**

 **Chapter 21**

"Mother?" Kara asked, her eyes wide, but hopeful. "How are you here? How is this possible?"

Still in shock, Alex grumbled, her tone a mix of disbelief and cheekiness. "I knew it. After all the crap we've been through, everything we've survived, barely holding onto our sanity… we've finally lost it. Now we're seeing ghosts. I suppose this is my fault for tricking you into watching horror movies."

Alura's laughter was musical. "That's one of the things I love about you, Alex, your ability to bring levity to any moment where most would be overwhelmed."

"Thank you?" Alex said, her voice rising in pitch, uncertain how the ghost of Alura would know this or anything at all about her. She absently noted they were speaking Kryptonese and began to wonder how much of her and Kara's conversation through their merge had been in Kara's native tongue. It was so easy for her to speak and think in Kryptonese, so she never really thought about it.

Alura smiled. "I'm able to be here because you've breached the plane between time and space. This place exists outside the physical universe. It's the present, future, past… and even touches the beyond. It's happened before, when Alex called out to you, but you couldn't answer, so we helped you find her… do you remember, Kara?"

Unbidden images of a light so intense she couldn't keep her eyes open flew into Kara's mind, of forces so immense she couldn't escape, barely aware of who she was, but knowing she wasn't where she was supposed to be.

She could feel Alex's horror at those memories, her sister's own pain at what Kara had endured in the sun's core.

As those hazy memories became clearer, her eyes widened in realization. "You came to me? When I was trapped… you showed me how to escape… you and Aunt Astra. I thought that was a dream…"

"It was… but it was your dream, and it allowed us to cross the barrier. You needed someone to point your way home, you were subconsciously reaching across your bond for Alex, but there was too much pain in the way for you to connect. So, your mind constructed a vision of someone to help you. Astra and I were able to guide you, but you were the one who brought us to you. And now, you've called us to you again… to help you find your way home." Alura smiled then. "As I said, for the opportunity to see you again and to meet Alex, I am so grateful."

"Ok, I'm still a bit confused…" Kara said, sensing her sister's confusion as well.

Alex spoke up, shaking off her anguish at experiencing first-hand Kara's hellish existence during the last year. "You're saying I called Kara home… through our bond?"

"It was more that you were reaching out to each other. The bond between the two of you has always been strong; so strong it transcends time itself. It's been deepened even more due to the lives you've had to lead, the trials you've been put through." Alura said, gripping both their hands a little tighter, her expression sorrowful. "I played a part in creating your past demons, and for that I am so very sorry."

"We know, Mother, we know the truth of the crimes of the House of El. Those weren't your fault." Kara said earnestly. "I know what you sacrificed for me, to make sure I would live… and I understand now what you did to save and protect Aunt Astra."

Alura shook her head, her eyes sad now, squeezing both their hands lightly before dropping them and wrapping her arms around herself. "No, it wasn't enough. I should have stopped Zor El. I knew his creations were evil… and I should have explained to Astra, but I was afraid of what she would do… ultimately, she saw my actions as a betrayal, and I don't blame her. But I couldn't let her die if I could do something to prevent it, and I couldn't risk you. What happened to her, was my fault. I couldn't be there for her and then losing you… losing us both, drove her insane."

Kara shook her head in denial. "Aunt Astra made her own choices, she could have done things differently, come to me as my aunt and not a monster… not that my choices were any better." Kara lamented, dropping her eyes from her mother's gaze. "I know a thing or two about becoming a monster."

Alura reached out to caress her face, encouraging her daughter to look up. "Kara, you never became a monster. Did you make questionable decisions? Yes. I don't have to point them out because the two of you just lived through them all over again. But you always had one thing that kept you grounded… your bond with Alex."

The Danvers sisters felt a soothing clarity at her words as Alura continued. "It's the reason why Kara was able to withstand and survive in the core of your sun. It's why, even in your darkest days, Alex… you never really doubted she was alive… and why you were able to call her home. Kara, you were lost, confused, but we were able to remind you of your life, and the pull to Alex was there. We just had to point the way. You did the rest."

Kara was still missing an elusive element to that whole encounter she could barely remember as it fell outside her reach. Struggling to put this information into some semblance of perspective, she said, "But Aunt Astra was with you… how was she there too? After what I did to her… I mean, I'm the one who killed her, so why would she help me?"

"Kara, Astra never stopped loving you, no matter how twisted that love became. Again, a lot of what happened was my fault." Alura stated, her expression emphasizing her belief in the truth of her words.

Turning to Alex, she smiled softly, her eyes sparkling in her sincerity as she spoke. "As to how she was able to be there with me, that's all because of you, Alex. In your compassion… because of your love for Kara, you gave me and Astra a great gift."

Alex was stunned by Alura's words; she had no concept of what she could have done to earn them. "Umm, what are you talking about? No offense, but I hate your sister for what she's done to me and my family… what she forced Kara to do. I wanted her dead for all the pain she put Kara through, for trying to murder my family and I won't apologize for that."

"I'm not expecting you too, nor is Astra." Alex was even more confused now as Alura continued to explain. "I have a bond with Astra very similar to what you and Kara share. When she lost me, through my betrayal and eventual death, our bond was broken. She had nothing to keep her demons from totally consuming her. I failed her and ultimately, I failed you too. I am not trying to excuse what she did or what I have done, we only want to help you by sharing more of our story with you, so you can see the parallels between your lives and ours."

"Parallels? I don't…" Alex froze as the answer suddenly occurred to her. "The vision we had… of you and Astra, that was you, wasn't it? Your memory. It doesn't make sense why we would see it any other way. The closeness you shared, her swearing to always protect you…"

"The same as you and Kara have always sworn to protect each other." Alura replied, impressed with how quickly Alex put together the information. "And while it is a memory of mine, I wasn't the one who showed it to you."

"Aunt Astra..." Kara spoke softly, very sure now. "She's here too, isn't she?"

Alex went rigid as she looked around, her eyes narrowed, her anger slowly rising. Kara looked over at her, alarmed. Pulling away from her mother, she wrapped an arm around her sister. "Alex, calm down, please. She won't hurt us."

"How do you know that?" Alex's eyes were bright even as her sister's words soothed her, shorting out the spike of negative emotion. Muttering mostly to herself, she said, "I've finally lost it. I'm arguing with you while standing with your ghost mom in our own version of purgatory, waiting to be attacked by your deranged aunt."

Kara groaned and leaned her head on Alex's shoulder, realizing her sister was trying to fight her instant reaction to Astra's apparent proximity.

Alura didn't seem concerned. She looked amused at Alex's antics. "I appreciate your honesty, Alex, but Astra simply wants to talk. She was waiting to make sure you were willing. It is up to you, but I believe speaking to her will give you and Kara the closure all three of you need."

Alex didn't move, merely contemplated Alura's plea. She wasn't sure how she would react to really seeing Astra. She could feel her sister's hesitance, but also her desire to see the aunt of her childhood.

"Ok." Alex said, still tense, but keeping her composure.

"Thank you." Astra's voice came from behind them. Alex twisted around, pulling Kara with her as she stepped back from the former general, setting her feet in a defensive stance. Kara simply froze in her grip as they were now face to face with one of the demons of their past.

For her part, Astra's countenance was calm, almost serene given the last time Alex and Kara had seen her alive. She walked to Alura's side and smiled, gripping her twin's elbow in a manner that Kara and Alex often used with each other. The familiarity of the motion caused the younger women to relax slightly from their stiff postures.

"I know seeing me brings many hard feelings, but I wanted to clear the air with both of you, expressing my tremendous sorrow over my actions toward you and your family. I'm not asking for forgiveness, I don't deserve it, but as Alura said, you gave us a gift and we wanted you to know." Astra's voice trembled as she spoke.

Alex and Kara didn't know what to say, so they just remained silent.

Alura picked up where her sister left off. "Kara, when you took Astra's life, it cost you dearly, but you did what you knew you had to do, to protect those you love. What you need to know, is that by doing so, you freed Astra from the torment, anger and despair she had been living under since I sentenced her to the Phantom Zone."

Astra nodded in agreement as she picked up her story. "I found myself adrift, not feeling pain, but wondering where I was, how I was going to find my way out of the darkness, knowing I deserved hell for my choices. Then, I heard a voice, calling out to me, lighting my way in the dark, leading me to this place."

The white lock at Astra's brow seemingly glowed, her eyes wet, but her expression was one of such gratitude. "The voice was yours, Alex, praying over me, guiding me into Rao's light, guiding me home. Your love for Kara overcame your hate for me. Your actions granted me the peace that I thought was lost to me… because your prayers brought me to Alura."

Alura spoke then. "That is the gift you gave us, the chance to heal and renew our broken bond. We are whole again, because of you. It has taken time and wasn't easy, but we are now at the end of our journey. We only remain here to help you continue yours."

The overwhelming pride and love Alex felt from her sister in that moment left her unable to react. Shaking her head, she said, "Help us how?"

"I'm not asking for, nor do I deserve your forgiveness, Alex," Astra told her, "But for the love we both have for Kara, and the love I know she has for you, please… do not let your anger and rage continue to fester and grow. You will become something unrecognizable... you will become me."

The impact of Astra's words struck a chord in the younger woman as Alex continued to honestly listen.

"I don't want that for you." Astra continued, "Let my actions be your example of what not to do. Kara will help you; she sees things much clearer now. You both have so much to live for and our hope is that you find the peace you've both sought and deserve."

Tears now falling, Kara threw herself at her aunt. Gripping Astra tightly, she said softly, "I love you, Aunt Astra."

The smile on Astra's face was wide as she closed her eyes and held her beloved niece close. "And I love you, Little One… always."

"It is time for us to move on." Alura said, giving Alex a grateful hug before wrapping her daughter in a tight embrace. She kissed Kara's forehead and stepped back, reaching out to Astra. "This part of your journey is at an end. Go in peace with our blessing… and know at your journey's end, we will be waiting for you both. When you enter into Rao's light, you will do so in the same way you will do everything else in your lives… together."

Kara stood next to Alex, both feeling much lighter, some of their burden lifted.

Alura and Astra stood hand-in-hand as a bright light swept through the meadow. As the light faded, Kara and Alex felt themselves separating, moving away from each other, their thoughts becoming their own again, but the feeling of the other's continuing presence giving them comfort.

Sounds began to penetrate their hearing, the last vestiges of their merge dissolved as their minds retreated from each other, leaving them adrift.

Alex was starting to panic not sensing her sister after being joined for so long, when she realized she was back in her body. She ached from laying unmoving on the hard bench for the amount of time she and Kara had been merged. Her panic receded when she felt her sister grip her hand tightly and she heard her groan.

She opened her eyes, blinking in the light as she observed five faces peering down at her: three worried, one smirking and another expressionless.

She turned her head to see her sister's blue eyes watching her. Kara asked softly, _"Did my mother and aunt just send us back? Or was that all a dream? It seems… fuzzy."_

When Alex didn't say anything, her expression became worried. _"Are you okay? I can't tell what you're thinking now..."_

Alex pondered her question, even as her awareness of her surroundings and the pain shooting through her body when she tried to move slightly began to take some focus.

If she was totally honest, she wasn't sure if it was a shared vision or hallucination. She refocused on Kara's concerned face. " _I don't know, but I feel… better. I don't know any other way to describe it. So, whether it was real or not, we are where we are supposed to be, we can thank Rao for his intervention and start to live again."_

" _There are a few things I know though,"_ Alex said. Kara's eyebrow rose questioningly waiting for Alex to continue. A huge smile lit her face, her eyes full of mirth, she said, _"I'm starving, in pain from laying on this damn bench… and I've got to pee."_

Their bubble was broken when Clark exclaimed loudly, "Would you stop with the Kryptonese already? You know Mom and Dad hate when they can't understand what you're saying."

Looking around at all the eyes on him, Clark shrugged his shoulders, not the least bit apologetic. "What?"

Kara sat up slowly, taking in the faces around her and Alex. Clark was closest, her dad next to him. She turned her head and saw Eliza pulling an IV out of Alex's hand and Leslie who was staring intently at Alex and then at her as if trying to read their minds and gauge their moods. Kelex stood back, obviously still monitoring them for any abnormalities now that they were awake.

"Mom and Dad hate it, huh? Then perhaps it is time you took your Kryptonese lessons more seriously so you can try to interpret for them, because you can't honestly think Alex and I will ever give up that advantage willingly." Kara told him, grinning and taking his hand and squeezing.

Kara looked towards the only man who had ever been a true father to her. Jeremiah had been crying, his eyes were red and exhausted but there was a bright smile on his face.

"How long have we been out?" Kara asked him.

"A little over three days." he answered, his voice cracking slightly in clear relief.

Alex's eyebrows rose as she sat up, groaning loudly from the obvious ache in her lower back. "All that time and no one thought to put me on a more comfortable mattress?" the brunette asked.

Kara saw her mother take her sister's hand. Like Jeremiah, her mom's eyes were exhausted and showed signs of many tears.

"I'm sorry." Eliza told her oldest child quickly, reaching out tentatively to rub Alex's back. "I should have..."

"Mom," Alex stopped her, a small smile on her face. "It's okay, I was joking... mostly. It's... good to see you."

Kara moved from the crystal bench to the floor, grabbing Clark and her father in a hug. She turned and was grateful to see Alex and her Mom hugging each other tightly.

What they had gone through had changed them all. The blonde supposed after remembering the changes she had undergone since her entrance into the Danvers family, that life and relationships always changed, always metamorphized into something stronger, or weaker. The family's shared mission, saving the world, protecting each other from the world had bonded them closely.

Her year away had shattered that bond, greatly weakening their family, an obvious divide between Alex and her parents, Clark being torn between them and his own growing bitterness.

But the tightness her mother and sister held each other gave her hope that they could repair their relationship, that they could heal those wounds… that her father and sister could come to an understanding, become as close as they once were… that she could have a strong family again. Kara was determined she would make it so.

The memory of the feel of alcohol and drugs remained in her, but she would not succumb. She remembered the feelings of darkness, the utter helplessness she felt, the desire to die, and swore to herself she would never fall to that darkness again. She would use her past, her mistakes, to make sure Clark never made the same ones she did.

"I'm hungry." She mumbled and looked towards Alex who had finally released her mother, tears in sister's eyes and a smile on her face. "And I know Alex is. Three days?"

"Almost four." Clark said quickly. Apparently unable to help himself and probably not thinking whether he should or not, he began questioning her. "Kelex said you and Alex… that your minds merged. Could you see in each other's head?"

Leslie spoke up as she stepped forward and offered a shoulder to Alex, Eliza on the younger woman's other side, helping her stand after being immobile for so long. "Not now." she told him, then glanced at the parents to include them in her next directive. "Give them a day to recover and let's get some food in them. But absolutely no questions to either of them about what they experienced. Understood?"

While her parents and brother nodded that they did, Kara was definitely in agreement with the food part of Leslie's instructions, distressed that her human sister had not eaten in so long. She suspected Alex's back had not hurt her this badly since Alex held her through her withdrawals without rest for days. "Dad, I think it's time you fired up the grill again. The both of us need... food. A lot of food."

An hour later, the girls sat in the living room of Eliza and Jeremiah's home while Jeremiah grilled hamburgers and hot dogs outside. Kelex was still constantly scanning Kara and Alex before an annoyed Alex told him to stop. Alex had gone through half a bag of chips before Kara told her to stop, worried that eating so much in such a short time could cause her to vomit.

Kara then finished the bag and ate another bag while Alex glared at her.

Soon the family of six, along with Leslie, were on the deck, Alex chewing through a burger quickly while Kara continued her eating binge. Despite the red sunrays she had been exposed to over the last 78 hours and the bracelet she wore, the blonde still felt more powerful than ever. Kelex had told her the yellow sunray absorption in her cells had dropped significantly but she had quite a way to go before she would be ready to have a red crystal implanted in her body, discouraging Kara a bit. After remembering the rush her powers gave her, she had a great desire to fly... and fight.

This scared her and she desperately wanted to get rid of these powers before they tempted her again. She could not, would not, become addicted to anything. She would not be a slave to drugs, alcohol nor her powers and rage.

The blonde looked at Alex who was happily working her way through her burger, mustard on her fingers. Seeing the rare, carefree expression on her sister's face, she swore she would not follow that path, nor allow Alex to.

In making this decision, Kara knew what she had to do. Once the crystal was ready, once she felt human again, she would need to be medicated and probably attend meetings again. Now that she remembered how alcohol and drugs made her feel, she could feel the temptation and would fight it her entire life. Kara was fine with that. She loved a good fight; fighting against things that could harm her and her family sounded like a worthy battle.

Alex groaned then, rubbing her stomach as she must have recognized Kara had been telling the truth… eating so much after three and a half days without food, apparently made her stomach feel a bit uneasy. Alex sat her half-finished burger down, stood and moved towards Kara. Eliza was standing behind the blonde, a hand on her shoulder.

The mother gave Alex a shy smile. "Are you okay?" Eliza asked Alex.

"I'm fine. Glad it's over. And that's a question, Mom…" Kara answered instead, then winked at Alex. Alex thumped her on the forehead.

"We are okay." Alex answered her mother, despite the nonquestion directive from their now scowling therapist. "It was … unsettling… even frightening at times, but we survived."

"We always do." Kara mumbled around the burger halfway in her mouth, causing both women to laugh.

Jeremiah walked up to Eliza and put an arm around her waist. "Yes, you two are definitely survivors."

Kara shook her head, swallowing the last of her burger. "We all are. Despite everything, we are still here. Isn't that right, Stinky."

Clark cringed. "I was hoping you two would have forgotten that nickname."

"Never." Alex assured him, the smirk on her face lending weight to her promise.

Leslie cleared her throat, but no one turned towards her, not even Kelex who Kara noticed was busy scanning Alex's digestive system without her knowledge.

"Hey!" Leslie finally shouted, causing them all to flinch. "Thank you. We have a lot of work to do. I want meetings with each of you, Clark included. That will take five days of the week. On the sixth day, I will be meeting with Kara and Alex. On the seventh day, we are going to have family meetings. Kara, I want you to start attending AA meetings every day for a few weeks then we can evaluate from there. Alex..."

Alex was already nodding her head, seemingly undisturbed by Leslie's unspoken question. "I'll be going as well."

Kara knew she had condemned her sister to being susceptible to all her addictions when they merged. Although feeling guilty, she accepted that Alex wouldn't change a thing. Her sister's confidence in what they could do together bolstering Kara's own belief and relieving her of some of that guilt.

Leslie nodded her head, obviously relieved. Kara guessed she expected Alex to have some resistance to the idea but detected none.

The doctor continued, "As far as meds, Alex and Eliza, you two will start taking anxiety meds again. Kara and Jeremiah, we will have to evaluate as we go along. Neither of you can lie to me. Looking at you, Kara."

Kara shook her head. "I'll never lie to you. Not again. I swear."

Given the small smile on the doctor's face, she was satisfied with the sincerity in Kara's tone, so she moved on. "Kara, we start with you tomorrow night after Clark's last baseball game. Alex will be next, followed by Eliza, Jeremiah and Clark on consecutive nights. Family time after ..."

Kelex raised his hand and spoke up. "What about me?"

Leslie looked at the robot, the incredulity apparent in her expression. "Seriously?"

"I do have feelings. This year has been quite traumatic for me as well." The AI pointed out.

Alex grinned at Leslie. "He does have a point."

"You expect me to provide therapy for a robot?" the woman asked, her voice rising in obvious disbelief.

"Not if you are going to speak of me that way." Kelex answered. "I am sentient. If you are not willing, then perhaps I can find an anonymous therapist online..."

"Fine!" Leslie nearly shouted. "You can have a little time. If nothing else, you will probably give me some insight on what has been going on with this family for the last year."

"Gladly." Kelex answered, not able to smile but the tone of voice indicating happiness.

Kara was very amused, loving her friend's dry humor and desire to be more human every day. "I'll make you look like Ironman. Would that make you feel better?"

Though unable to use the AI's face to read any expressions that would give away his feelings, they could all tell how excited he apparently was because he started vibrating, his hands flailing in enthusiasm. "I could have a mouth? I would love the ability to pout and smile."

"Deal." Kara agreed, pleased she could bring him such joy.

Leslie shook her head, apparently entertaining the idea that she may have been wrong about the obviously happy robot. "For now, I need to meet with the two of you in your old room." Leslie told the sisters. "Now."

Directing her gaze to the four remaining family members, she reiterated her earlier demand. "I will be speaking to them, asking the questions. You three… sorry… four, will not ask them anything. Family meetings are for asking your questions. Am I clear?"

Upon their agreement, the three pulled away from their family and followed the woman upstairs, Kara with a cheeseburger in hand that she ate before they entered their old room.

"Have a seat on Alex's old bed." the therapist ordered. "I'll sit on Kara's."

The three made themselves comfortable, or as comfortable as Alex could be considering her back still ached.

"I am going to have such a long bath tonight." the older sister informed Kara. "As long as you still have heat vision to heat the water. I also expect a foot rub."

Kara raised an eyebrow then without prompting, positioned herself so she could gently massage her sister's aching back while they talked with Leslie. "You haven't been on your feet in days."

Alex looked at her sharply. "After what I just experienced, I think you owe me a foot rub."

"I wouldn't mind one either." Leslie told her. "I had a heart attack. You owe me."

Kara rolled her eyes. "I'll tell Bruce to get you a masseuse. I'm not giving you a foot rub, Leslie."

Leslie shrugged her shoulders, not really have expected one but figuring she had nothing to lose. "Sounds good to me."

She settled back and asked. "So the two of you were in each other's head?"

Both girls nodded.

"You felt each other's emotions, you saw each other's lives, experienced everything the other ever has?" Leslie continued.

"Oh yeah." Kara whispered.

"Ok, I need to know where to start," Leslie said. "What will keep you from sleeping tonight?"

"Beside the fact that we have slept the last 78 hours?" Alex asked.

Leslie clenched her teeth. She had forgotten how sarcastic the girls could be in sessions. "Yeah, besides that. You both saw everything, felt everything. So I want to know everything if we are going to get through this. Complete honesty from both of you. Now tell me, what was the most traumatic experiences you remember?"

The two sisters looked at each other, not sure where to start.

Suddenly, Alex leaned forward, breaking the silence. "I remember what it felt like to have sex with Dick Grayson and Barry Allen."

Kara nodded quickly, totally in agreement with Alex's assertions. "Yeah, I remember having sex with Cameron Chase. Is there anything you can do that would help us with that? Because it was not cool. At all."


	22. Chapter 22

**Do not own DC or CW Characters**

 **Chapter 22**

 **Midvale**

School was done for the year. The night before, Clark played a baseball game with Kara in the stands watching him. And she was smiling. So was Alex. It was surreal, like a dream. He didn't hit a homerun to win the game or throw a no hitter, but it was quite possibly the best game of his life.

He suspected Kara and Alex would be at the Fortress this afternoon but, as much as he wanted to go to them, his friends insisted that he escort them to the beach that was at the bottom of the cliff his home stood on. With two of his male teammates, Whitney Fordman and Pete Ross, along with his girlfriend, Lana, the group made their way down the narrow path that led down to the place he and his two sisters had spent so much of their time.

On approach, Clark wished he had looked ahead and listened, instead of assuming Alex and Kara were at the Fortress.

The two were laid out on the beach on towels, Kara wearing shades that made her hair appear brunette, with Alex lying next to her.

They were both in bikinis.

"I think we should go." Clark said and turned to travel back to his house.

Lana grabbed him by the arm. "Isn't that your sister? Who is she with?"

Clark cleared his throat, annoyed that Whitney and Pete had already locked onto his siblings. "My sister, Kara, is back from Europe. I thought they had a lot of work to do inside, but I guess I was wrong. They probably want to be alone. We shouldn't disturb them."

"Hell, no. That's Kara Danvers?" Pete asked. "I haven't seen her in like … forever. We should go say hi. It would be polite."

"No..." Clark started, trying to walk away, but he couldn't move without hurting Lana who had clamped down on his arm.

Pete hadn't stopped talking and wasn't paying any attention to Clark. "Besides, I want to talk to her. She has to tell me what Europe was like. I can't believe she spent all that time backpacking Europe. That must have been so cool!"

"It wasn't." Clark disagreed.

Whitney was having none of it. Like Pete, he was unable to take his eyes off the sisters. "Yeah, it would be rude not to say hi. I've never been introduced, Clark. I think we should definitely hang with them. I don't think I have ever seen Alex in a swimsuit… especially one like that."

"Enough! They want to be alone..." Clark yelled, still trying to pull away and distract the two teens who were ogling the two, extremely fit women.

"Clark!" the boy heard Kara's voice call out. He looked and saw she was now sitting up, Alex doing the same. At least she was wearing a large red sunray bracelet on her left arm.

"Come hang with us!" Kara continued.

"Sounds like an invitation to me." Pete grinned and told his friend, patting Clark on the back and walking quickly towards his sisters with Whitney and Lana on his tail.

When the foursome reached the two women they were standing, waiting.

"Stinky!" Alex greeted him. "I was wondering if you were going to show up here. Have a good last day of school?"

Clark cringed at the nickname.

"Stinky?" Lana asked, a mischievous grin on her face. "I've heard her call you Squirt, Munchkin and Clarkie, but Stinky is a new one."

"Yeah, it's one that I don't like, and she isn't supposed to use outside of the home." Clark told his oldest sister with a sharp look. "Speaking of home, I thought you two had work to do… inside… away from so much sunlight."

Kara shrugged her shoulders. "We have been working hard and progress is going well. We both felt the need for some fresh air and water. I needed a little relaxation and I haven't been here in a long time."

"Hi, Kara, I'm Whitney, Whitney Fordman." the taller of Clark's two friends introduced himself, offering his hand while trying to keep his eyes from roaming, not succeeding in the slightest.

The grin on Kara's face was as infectious as it was genuine. "Of course. You play third base. I know you of course, Lana. It's good to see you again. And you are...?"

"Pete Ross. Clark's best friend." Pete's eyes were having just as much trouble as Whitney's when it came to keeping his gaze from wandering to look at the gorgeous women wearing just enough to be considered clothed. "We started Kindergarten here before he moved off across the country to the big city. It's been good to have him back. So..."

"Clark said you were in Europe this past year." Lana interrupted. "What was it like? Did you see all of Europe?"

Kara nodded her head. "I've seen every country you can imagine. Europe was... hot. A lot hotter than I expected, I guess you could say." she finished, winking at Clark who did not find that funny.

Lana looked at a grinning Alex, apparently noticing the faint lines along her stomach. "Alex... did you have surgery? Clark told us you were sick last year, but I could never tell. Where did you get those scars?"

"Sky diving accident." Alex answered, causing Clark to groan.

"Wow." Pete said. "You sky dive?"

"Alex and I have been into extreme sports since we were teenagers. I wouldn't recommend them. The rush isn't worth the pain." Kara admitted, smiling at her sister who was obviously enjoying the conversation. "We have recently decided that particular hobby isn't something we are interested in anymore."

"Don't you two have robes?" Clark finally asked, becoming more irritated by the second, his two sisters making thinly veiled jokes about the past and his two male friends drooling over them.

"No. We just came to the beach to get some fresh air. We have to go soon, get back to work. Are you guys going to swim?" Kara asked.

"You want to swim with us?" Pete asked, not answering the question. "I would love too."

"We didn't bring suits." Clark pointed out. "Besides, my sisters have to get back to work on their special project in the basement. Right, Kara?"

"Yeah... okay." Kara agreed glancing in confusion at Alex who was grinning wickedly at their little brother. "Let's go, Alex. I guess we should leave _our_ beach, for Clark."

Kara and Alex picked up their towels from the sand and walked away, leaving Clark and his friends alone.

The boy slapped the back of Pete's head, careful not to overdo his strength regardless of how irritated he was. "Stop watching my sisters walk away, dude!"

Pete shook his head, rubbing it where Clark had popped him, but not even pretending to stop watching. "Sorry, not sorry, man. Your sisters are really, really hot."

Kara and Alex made the trek up the path to their childhood home.

"What was up with Clark? He seemed upset. My solar levels are steadily dropping. I can't stay in the Fortress every minute of the day. I do need to get fresh air sometimes. It's not like I didn't have a bracelet on."

Alex shook her head, laughing. "I think Clark was more upset about his friends seeing us. They aren't little kids anymore, Kara."

Kara shook her head, disagreeing. "We weren't little kids when we were his age because we couldn't afford to be. He has every reason to be a little kid. I get that he has been through a lot but what does... oh... you mean his friends..."

"Were looking at us like a wolf looks at raw meat." Alex finished her thought as Kara's eyes went wide, before she too, grinned, understanding now why Clark's face turned the shade of red it did. Alex continued, "We needed to get back regardless. I want to see the progress Kelex made on the new device. If this works we could lessen your solar ray absorption significantly faster."

Kara snorted. "Right, Project 'Solar Flare'. If this doesn't work, do you know what could happen?"

Alex nodded her head. "That's why you are doing it at night… outside… in the most remote place on Earth. If it doesn't work, throw it into the sky. I'll be inside and can get back to the drawing board."

"We have to go to a meeting tomorrow night after therapy." Kara cautiously reminded her.

To her relief, Alex simply nodded. "I know, we will be there."

"How bad is it for you? The memories, I mean. Do you feel my... need?" she asked hesitantly.

Alex nodded her head, a chill entering her body despite the warmth of the day. She reached out and took Kara's hand, squeezing reassuringly. "Don't you? Of course I feel it. I don't want you to worry, though, it's okay. We won't go back to that place. Let's get home. I'm thinking in three days we can give the solar flare device a test drive. Everything else, we will take it as it comes. We will win, I promise."

Kara smiled at her sister's enthusiasm and her concerns were relieved. She knew they would win. They always did eventually.

 **UNC Raleigh**

After several possibilities and investigations, Brainiac 5 hoped he had finally found his woman. He had visited seven universities, meeting seven doctors who specialized in some type of biomedical or bioengineering research who fit the general description of the Angel. Despite being the right height and estimated weight, along with the shorter hair, he knew none was the Angel.

For one thing, they didn't have the athleticism to be the woman he was looking for. They had attitudes ranging from superior to others, to helpful, to naturally dull. Their eyes were tired perhaps, as they all dedicated most of the hours of their day to teaching and research, but they didn't have the subtle characteristics he was looking for.

Brainy was looking for a woman who carried herself as a warrior and had the eyes of a person who had killed over 400 people in the last year, who had fought aliens and metahumans for years at Supergirl's side. None of the women he had interviewed so far looked traumatized by life nor had a deep anger behind their eyes. The Coluan may have based his investigation on information and dwindling down a suspect pool, but he never underestimated human emotions and the traits similar humans displayed. None of the women he met looked as if they would kill him without a second thought if they knew he was a threat.

Now he had arrived at UNC Raleigh, hoping that one of his last two potential suspects would be the one.

Dr. Alexandra Danvers was a researcher in the Bioengineering department and part time CDC consultant.

Unfortunately, Brainy was unable to find Dr. Danvers. Instead, he only found her secretary, Sue, who seemed to have no clue about life in general. He decided perhaps he could turn this into an advantage.

"What is your name?" the affable young woman asked. "I could send Dr. Danvers a text, asking her to call you?"

"I'm Dr. Allen Morris, Stanford University. I've been offered a position here and wanted to take a tour myself before I decided. I have been following Dr. Danvers career and wanted to meet one of the brightest minds the University has to offer and get to know my potential colleagues. How long has she been gone?"

Sue's bright smile made it no secret that she was infatuated with the handsome young 'doctor'.

"Since 'Supergirl Day' so it's been a little over two weeks, I guess. She sent an email after 'Supergirl Day' that said she was going to be on an extended field assignment with the CDC and didn't know how long it would take. Her parents haven't been around much since then either. They all work here. How cool is that? A family of geniuses, here under one roof."

Brainy was excited to learn this piece of information. If his quarry was the woman he hoped her to be, he would also learn the identity of the people who raised Supergirl and Superman. "Her parents have been gone as well? Do they do CDC work? I understood Dr. Danvers only performed consulting jobs for the CDC. I didn't realize she worked in the field."

Sue replied. "I don't think her parents have anything to do with the CDC. Dr. Danvers hasn't taken any field assignments in months and those were last minute assignments that only lasted a few days at most. They must be rough. She comes back exhausted and once she was limping. She is a pretty tough lady though. Maybe since her parents have been gone, they all decided to take a vacation. Dr. Danvers really needs one. Between her work here, her work with the CDC plus her solar research..."

Brainy perked up at that statement. "Solar research?"

Sue looked a bit guilty at that information slipping out. "I don't think it is attached to the University so let's keep that to ourselves. I've heard her on the phone sometimes talking to someone about solar flares, weird radiation spikes. I admit I didn't understand it all, but I'm not a scientist. Still, she really needs time off. You know… now that I think about it, the last time I saw her, she mentioned her little brother would be getting out of school for the summer soon, so maybe they all went to Europe to see her sister."

"Her sister?" Brainy asked, surprised. "She lives in Europe?" In all his research on Alexandra Danvers, there was no mention of her having a sister or brother. His excitement was growing now.

"Yep." Sue confirmed. "She moved to Europe a couple days after the invasion. I think she is an artist or something. Dr. Danvers doesn't really talk about her. I asked her once and she just told me her sister was in Europe and didn't want to talk about it. Dr. Danvers isn't one for chitchat, but she is a cool boss, not stuffy like so many of the researchers here. Anyway, since I have no idea when she will be back, I would be glad to show you around the department, the university, I can even show you the nightlife around Raleigh. You would be surprised how much fun there is to be had here."

Brainy was thinking rapidly now, trying to hold his excitement in check. "That sounds great. I wonder if you could do me a great favor. Would you mind bringing us a cup of coffee from the cafeteria while I go the restroom? We can meet back here, and you can show me the sights."

Sue smiled brightly and stood up, taking the offered money from Brainy's hand. After giving him directions to the nearest restroom, Sue ran off, leaving Brainy alone.

The Coluan took two paperclips from her desk and moved to the door that displayed Dr. Danvers's nameplate along with her various degree designations and picked the lock with ease. Once he was inside, he was certain he had found his woman.

He looked under her desktop and saw a small Glock 9mm in its holster strapped underneath, in easy reach but hidden from sight to anyone who didn't know where to look. This was the type of thing he would expect from the Angel.

He rifled through her papers, then hacked into her computer, searching her files. He found research notes on different experiments and papers she had completed or was working on. He saw her CDC casefiles and emails but no mention of any field assignments.

Then the man turned from the computer and noticed what had been right in front of him.

A framed photo on the desk, two young girls on the beach, arms wrapped around each other, sand and water in their hair, both smiling brightly. One he knew was Dr. Danvers, the brunette with long dark hair but the other, was a shorter, slightly younger, blonde with blue eyes. An inscription at the bottom of the frame showed a date along with two names: Alex and Kara.

He was looking at a young Supergirl. Awestruck, he whispered to himself, while unconsciously addressing the image of the young blonde. "Amazing. Kara Zor El. Kara Danvers. That was your Earth name."

Sue had said that she had gone to Europe a few days after the Invasion. Brainy had a feeling she wasn't in Europe though. He knew what happened to Kara Zor El Danvers during the invasion. All of history knew what happened.

Brainy fought the urge to take the framed photo, leaving the priceless piece of history in its spot on the desk and left quickly, avoiding Sue. He had what he needed. Alexandra, no… _Alex_ Danvers lived near her parents in a remote house on the edge of the ocean. Kara Danvers had been Supergirl and Alex Danvers had been the woman in the shadows, a former DEO agent but now a renowned scientist; a woman smart enough at the age of 19 to defeat Indigo and years later, to kill a Worldkiller.

He found Garth and Lar in the Quad sitting on the same bench he had left them on.

"Another strike out?" Garth guessed.

Brainy smiled widely, barely keeping his hands from shaking. Unable to hide his excitement, he said, "Far from it. I just solved one of history's biggest mysteries. I know the human identity of Kara Zor El. Dr. Alexandra Danvers, or 'Alex' as she is called, is her adopted sister. She is the Angel, no doubt about it. She lives about 30 minutes away in Midvale, close to her parents who also work here as research scientists. We have to go there now. Her assistant said Alex has been away from the university for some time. I also learned she has a little brother that I suspect is going to grow up to be Superman one day. Do you realize what this will mean for written history?"

Lar thought for a moment, feeling surprise then irritation. "Do you realize we left our time period on the brink of destruction?"

Brainy waved it off. "Once we have the power source we will return a second after we left. At dark we will fly to Midvale."

"No. Slow down." Garth told him. "Everything we have learned about this woman; she was able to kill aliens with ease and went on a rampage after Supergirl died. She doesn't seem to be the type of woman who would just open her door to us with welcoming arms. We need to do recon, figure out a way to approach her. If we just show up on her doorstep, she is going to come out shooting and any chance of us getting any power source from her is gone. Like you said Brainy, we have the time. We can't screw this up."

Brainy nodded, his enthusiasm tempered by his friend's well thought out argument. "You are right. This will give us a chance to look into the school records, find out Superman's grades and most likely Supergirl's grades. We can see Superman from a distance, observe his movements..."

"How can you be so smart and yet so stupid?" Lar asked. "Superman, even at this age, probably has his powers. You think breaking into schools isn't going to attract attention? We are here on a mission. The important thing is how to approach Alex Danvers and to approach her at time when a young Superman isn't near her. We go there, we observe, determine her patterns, stay away from Superman and his freaky good vision and come up with a good way to approach her that doesn't involve us fighting for our lives or hurting her and changing the timeline. I realize you have a hero worship thing for Supergirl, Brainy, but what we have learned from the other aliens we have spoken to tells us that she had a major violent streak. Her sister does as well. Who knows what Superman, or Superboy I guess, is capable of? Yeah, he was Superman, the symbol of hope and savior of Earth and all that, but right now? His last link to Krypton died a year ago. What do you think he is going to be like?"

Brainy pondered this, thousands of thoughts running through his head. He sighed, realizing his friends were right to be cautious. "We will know more when we reach Midvale. For now let's eat and wait for dark."

 **The Fortress of Solitude**

Kara sat on a bench, very bored. She was down to a sports bra and soccer shorts, a red sun bracelet on both wrists, ankles, and upper arms. At this point she wouldn't be surprised if she would be asked to put on a collar. She hoped Alex wasn't thinking of designing one.

She felt like a red glow bug. Though she knew the goal, to get her solar levels back to normal so she could once again have the chance to feel human, to be human in everything except DNA, she was growing weary of the color red.

She had focused on her good memories, shying away from the bad that she had just relived, hers and Alex's. Kara told herself that mulling them over again and again would do her no good.

She had to hold onto her sanity and make sure Alex did the same.

So, she watched everyone carefully. Alex was working with Kelex on this device Kara was a bit uncertain about but was willing to give a try. Her parents were studying her cells and solar absorption rates. Despite her insistence on beach time that afternoon, her power levels were steadily dropping. She no longer felt like she could knock the Earth out of orbit by performing a handstand. Now she only felt as if she could throw an aircraft carrier into space with enough force to knock the moon out of its orbit.

Kara had used drugs and alcohol for so long with her powers she had forgotten how her body felt when it was its normally superpowered self, before Myriad. She had always been afraid of losing control growing up and she now felt even more out of control. Everything around her used to feel as if it were glass or even paper at times. Now it was worse. She controlled herself, used a lighter touch than ever before but was anxious for these powers to go away. They were making her feel isolated and that was a feeling Kara had been too familiar with all her life.

Instead of carrying on that train of thought, she sat back and kept a close eye on her parents and Alex. Compared to the hostility that had been present when Kara first returned, they were polite to each other, yet there was an undercurrent of tension. Kara almost had the feeling they were being polite for her sake. She understood why, knew Alex's feelings and also knew how close Alex had come to reacting with violence towards them over the past year. But Astra's words remained in her head.

Alex could not let her hate turn her into something unrecognizable. They had all changed and the blonde knew she was what tore them apart and it would be up to her to pull them back together.

"Hello, Leslie." Kara said, having heard the heartbeat behind her minutes earlier when the portal was active. "You are getting braver and braver using the portal like you have been. I told you, it was easy to become used to."

"How are you feeling?" the doctor asked with no preamble.

"Like I could crack Mars in half with one swing." Kara admitted. "But it's better than a few days ago. I'm a bit concerned about using my heat vision full blast into a set of glasses, but what's the worst that can happen? I'll blow the glasses up and my eyes will still be fine."

"You are actually going through with that?" Leslie asked, having heard Kelex suggest it to Alex but thinking it sounded crazy. "I would think building something like that would be more your thing."

Kara shrugged her shoulders. "I'm watching them. It's Kelex's idea and Alex approves. I'll do anything to be able to get a red crystal back in my body as soon as possible."

Leslie watched Kara's face for any signs of deception. Seeing none, she had a seat next to the girl and continued. "And what happens the next time some big, dangerous alien shows up on Earth and starts tearing through cities?"

Kara looked at the floor then looked Leslie in the eye. "I'm bringing my family to the Fortress and hoping Bruce and his old friends can figure something out. Supergirl is dead, Leslie. She is never coming back. I would rather die first. If she were to come back, I may as well be dead. After everything I remembered... I'm scared. I used to be scared of what would happen to the world if I stopped. Now I am scared of what would happen to all of us if I started again. It can't happen. I won't allow it."

Leslie was satisfied. She could hear the fear in Kara's voice that she tried to hide behind certainty.

"So... what do you see?" Leslie asked, motioning with her head towards her family.

"Alex is still angry, Mom and Dad feel guilty, Kelex is Kelex, trying to play the peacemaker and I have a problem with Clark thinking he is my Dad. He's also become bitter, angry and I have to fix that. I can't let him become me. Whether he ever dons that suit or not, he can't become me."

Leslie shook her head. "He can't be the you that you used to be. That girl burned up in the sun. What you are now, you are a blank slate. Your future is what you make it."

Kara smiled, agreeing with the woman.

"I need them whole for my future to be a good one." she told Leslie, looking at her split family working on different but similar projects yet not talking to each other.

"Leave that to me. You worry about you. I'll handle the rest." Leslie said bluntly. "So, since you are sitting here resembling a red glow bug, we may as well get some work done ourselves. Given any thought to plans past getting your skin soft enough to perform surgery?"

To Leslie's surprise, Kara nodded her head. "As soon as I can leave the Fortress, live full time in my home, I am going to talk to Miss Evans. I am sure I missed my job offer since I have been sunbathing for the past year, but I need to finish my classes and find an opening somewhere nearby. Maybe I can commute to Raleigh. There are a lot of schools there."

"You still want to be a teacher?" Leslie asked.

Kara nodded her head. "I want the rest of my life filled with music and art… and love. If I can't find a job, I'll volunteer. I still have over $20 million in a Cayman account from my side work with Selena Kyle, not to mention stealing Max Lord's project info and selling it to his competitor. Maybe I will start my own afterschool group, a club of some sort, showcasing music and art. I may not have had much control over the first part of my life, but I will control the rest of my life."

Kara hesitated then, her thoughts swirling, not sure how to express a deep-seated fear she had in words. She took a few even breaths to settle her mind. "I am concerned though. Bruce and J'onn already know about me. How long will Kara Danvers be living her life until someone else from my past finds out? What do I do if they start to pressure me?"

Leslie had thought of this often. "I don't know, Kara. What will you do if it happens?"

Kara sat quietly, contemplating the question seriously for the first time without stressing out about it. Eventually, she saw what Leslie already knew. "Nothing. There would be nothing I can do. With a couple of exceptions, whoever finds me will have to stay out of my life."

Leslie's eyebrow raised at her response, seeming to be both pleased and a little concerned. "Exceptions? Do I even need to guess? A certain someone with an affinity for dressing up like a bat?"

Kara laughed at that description of her friend. The woman was extremely sharp and knew her well. "Yeah, but Bruce is different. Bruce and I... we never had the bond Alex and I do obviously, but we understood each other. I can't see cutting myself off from him. He is like my brother in every way… even if I did throw myself at him when I was drunk once."

"You did?!" Leslie asked, a look of shock on her face to match the tone of her voice.

Kara could feel her face growing red even as she dutifully recounted what she could remember. "Yeah, one of those drunken fuzzy memories I tried in the past not to focus on. Even offered to wear black vinyl and use a whip before passing out. Not my best moment.

"Also, J'onn… despite what I put him through as a kid, he never gave up on me. He never once turned me down when I asked for help, even though I was so mean to him. He just took it and kept loving me anyway. Besides those two and Alfred, there is only one other person I want to know, to be a part of my new life."

Leslie's eyes were wide, noting Kara's hesitance. "Please don't tell me..."

"Lobo." Kara confirmed, seeing the look of misgiving on her therapist's face.

"Any particular reason?" Leslie asked carefully.

"He is lonely. He was there for me and Alex whenever we needed him, even if it was just for a laugh. We understood each other. Maybe if I can change, he can see... that he can find peace. He always believed he was born evil. I admit he isn't the most… sane person and something in him is very dark but I've seen the loving side of him. When he is with me and Alex, he shows us a side no one else has ever seen. He is my friend, like another brother… except he asks to have sex with me often… so probably not the best analogy. Regardless, he is one of the few people in my life I love unconditionally and who treats me the same."

Leslie shook her head. "If you tell that psycho space monster that you are alive, I am not giving him therapy. Your robot was my limit."

Kara snorted. "Yeah, he isn't someone who could open up."

Shaking her head, her heart aching a little at what she was going to admit next. She took a deep breath, before looking Leslie in the eyes. She wanted the woman to know she was sincere in her desire and what the costs would be to attain her new life. "Alex is going to have to cut off contact with some of her friends. I wish she didn't have to, but I know it will be necessary if I am to remain dead."

"Jason Connolly?" Leslie asked.

Kara nodded. "Yeah, him and Dick Grayson. We may have used each other but Dick and Alex were genuine friends. Clark is going to have to cut off contact with Hawk who has been his friend for as long as he can remember. Mom is going to have to distance herself from Jessica Ryan, then most likely cut her off completely. But you were right, Leslie. The more people that know the truth, the greater the temptation. It sucks, but that's the way it is, the way it has to be. It has to come down to me and my family, what's best for us."

"And one day, when your brother puts on that suit?" Leslie questioned.

Kara was silent for a moment, thinking through what the doctor had asked, not sure really how she would feel. "I'll deal with it when the time comes. He has a great destiny. I know it, I can feel it. I'll be there for whatever he needs but he will have to take that journey alone."

Leslie sat quietly for a moment, glad to discover Kara had given these issues thought. Clark would be another issue one day, but she knew Clark would never let Kara or Alex become involved in his destiny, at least not in the public eye or involving weapons or superpowers. He loved them too much to ever let them travel down that road again.

Kara continued. "The one thing I want Clark to learn from my mistakes, is to never kill unless you absolutely have no choice. That leaves a stain on your soul not even being burned up and rebuilt in the sun can change."

She heard the portal open and knew it could only be Clark.

"Speaking of, I suppose we can talk later after 'Super Eavesdropper' goes to sleep." Kara told her.

Leslie nodded and stood up, walking towards Alex, no doubt to subtly gauge her mood and learn more about the experimental device she was working on.

As Kara expected, Clark walked straight to her, so she stood to greet him.

"What was that all about?" the boy asked, anger evident in his expression. "The beach?"

Kara shrugged her shoulders. "What about it? My absorption levels are going down and I needed air. I hadn't been there in a while, so I put on a bracelet and caught..."

"In a bikini? Both of you? Seriously?" Clark asked, his voice rising slightly, but not enough to get the attention of his other family members.

Kara placed a hand on her brother's shoulder. He was nearly her height now and towered over his classmates.

"Clark, I love you so much, but there is something you need to understand." She turned and pointed towards their parents. "Do you see the man standing next to Mom, staring at a digital representation of my body's DNA, cells and organic tissues?"

"Dad?" the boy asked, and Kara rolled her eyes. Who else would she be talking about.

"Exactly. _He_ is my Dad. Not you. I know you have all been through a lot this past year, for most of my life for that matter, but it wasn't easy on me either. It wasn't easy on Alex. I am here, I am not going anywhere, ever again, but I need for you to be my little brother. I already have a Dad. If I want to visit the beach in a bathing suit, swim in the ocean I love in my favorite spot in the world, I will. I'm sorry if your friends couldn't pick their jaws up from the sand and it embarrassed you. That wasn't my intention, but people are going to look at me and Alex. We aren't joining a convent just because your friends are going through puberty. If it is such a problem for you, let us know the next time you are taking friends out there and we will stay far away."

Clark was speechless for a moment, a range of emotion filling him, including guilt, embarrassment and a little anger.

"I..."

"You what?" Kara questioned calmly.

"Nothing. Sorry. I just want you to be normal... I mean..." Clark trailed off, obviously not knowing how to say what he truly wanted without upsetting her.

Kara responded knowingly. "I know what you mean but I want you to be my little brother again, not my keeper or boss. I love you, Clark. I've always looked out for you and yeah, sometimes I did a crappy job. Sometimes I couldn't look out for myself. I put all of you through some horrible things that were completely my fault. I wish I could go back and change a lot of things, but I can't. I just want to live now with my family… my parents, my big sis and my little brother. Can you be that little brother for me, Clark?"

Clark slowly relaxed, realizing he may have overreacted. "I'll let you know the next time we are going to the beach."

"Awesome! I'll have my bikini ready." Kara told him with a wink. Clark punched her in the shoulder and laughed, the first genuine laugh he had in a very long time. "Everyone is working. Why don't we go to the Southeast corner and play Fortnite on the crystal screen?"

"You suck at that game." Clark said without hesitation.

"I know… I need the practice. You up for it or do you want to watch the science nerds do their thing? Maybe you can have a session with Leslie since she is here."

Clark shook his head, none of those ideas sounding good, especially the last one. "Fortnite it is. You realize you have no hope of beating me?"

Kara smiled and pointed to the suit he would one day wear. "Never underestimate the power of hope."


	23. Chapter 23

**Do not own DC or CW characters**

 **Chapter 23**

Leslie walked into Kara's room and found the girl sitting on her bed, knees to her chest and a book in her hands. Leslie could tell with one glance what sort of book it was easily enough.

Kara wore simple grey sweatpants and a plain white t-shirt, her hair in a ponytail. She looked as if she were a typical woman, sitting in bed reading before bedtime. The only clue that she was different was the silver bracelets on her right and left wrists that had a thin layer of crystal underneath them giving a feint red glow.

"Good evening, Leslie." Kara greeted her without looking up. "What brings you to my humble abode?"

Leslie smiled at the playfulness in her tone. "Wanted to have a session with you and Alex but she looks beat. I think everyone would feel better if you were holed up in the Fortress, but I get it. You need to be in the home you built, right?"

Kara looked at her and grinned. "I'll have red night lights in my bedroom. In about an hour, Alex will stop pretending to watch TV, come into my room, lay on the bed and pretend to talk about something lighthearted then fall asleep. I'm beginning to think we should just do away with the whole charade and move her bed in here. We haven't shared a room since we... I mean, since I got out of rehab and moved back to Midvale, but it looks like that time is coming."

Leslie sat on the end of Kara's bed as the girl closed the journal she had been reading. "Does that bother you?"

Kara shook her head quickly. "I... she worries. I worry... I don't want her to have nightmares, so I stay up at night watching her. I know about her flashbacks, her anxiety, her nightmares. I see them all now and I want her to feel safe. Ironically, I make sure she takes her meds every night and I think she is sleeping better but she still reaches out for me, usually to pat me on the head like she is making sure I am still there. A few times she has hit Streaky by accident."

Kara was quiet for a moment, contemplating her own feelings. "I don't want her far from me either."

"Why is that? You can hear her everywhere, especially in this house." Leslie knew, of course, but prodded Kara to figure it out for herself.

Kara shrugged her shoulders. "I'm not sure. I become... not anxious... it's hard to describe. I guess we still have codependency issues." the blonde finished with a soft chuckle. "Probably worse now than ever."

Leslie nodded her head. "You have no idea how bad it's going to be. You just slipped, saying _we_ had gotten out of rehab before you corrected yourself. You two were in each other's head for over three days. The two of you had codependency issues before, but they are going to get much worse before they get better. You are both mixed up, coming to grips with each other's memories. I was in with you for an hour and you didn't have access to my mind, but I still felt as if I were you on Krypton."

Kara nodded. "Try not to have a heart attack the next time you think about it. I thought you were supposed to be tough. Nothing scared you, remember?" the girl told her teasingly.

"I was wrong." Leslie answered plainly. "What are you reading?"

Kara blushed a bit to Leslie's surprise. "I don't suppose you would buy it if I told you it was a diary from my teen years with all the information on my crushes?"

Leslie reached for the book which Kara gave her without complaint. "These journals, the ones you wrote in after you harmed yourself… the ones from high school and college… how many do you have?"

Kara pointed up. "In the attic, I have twenty seven. This was the last one I completed before I gave up on it. I don't know why I pulled it out. I need to hide it before Alex comes in here... of course she knows everything I ever wrote in it now. Still, she doesn't need to be reminded by seeing it."

Leslie handed the book back to Kara without looking in it. "I can understand that. Memories are one thing, but physical objects attached to memories can be strong. So… why did you bring it out?"

Kara opened the book once again and ran her finger over the page gently. "I didn't just write what I did to myself or what triggered it. Sometimes I just wrote. This helps me organize my thoughts, memories, helps me understand I guess. It's weird that I see who I used to be as someone else, but I am still dealing with the problems that girl had. I know it's me but reading what I wrote in the past is helping me separate myself from her. Kind of silly, huh?"

Leslie disagreed. "No, I think it makes a lot of sense. It probably would help you to start writing another one. Sometimes writing your emotions on paper can make them easier to understand. So, what have you learned from that journal?"

Kara smirked a bit, but there was pain behind the look. "That I went insane."

"That's a given." Leslie agreed with a small smile. "Anything else?"

"I feel sorry for myself. Isn't that stupid? I have no right to feel sorry for myself. Everything that happened was mostly my fault. I started off wanting to save the world and punish myself. Then I convinced myself that the things I did were for the safety of my family, the safety of the world. I walked the grey line of morality, became a monster when I wanted to be, became a savior when I wanted to be. Before I knew it, I was falling farther into the darkness, justifying my actions with flimsy excuses and then not even trying to justify my actions to myself. But still, watching those memories unfold, watching Alex's, I feel sorry for those two little girls." Kara's tone was soft and even but recognizing the truth of those memories left her feeling somewhat forlorn.

Leslie shook her head. "Nothing wrong with that. It's okay to feel sorry for yourself, or yourselves in this case. What you do about it, what you give those two little girls from here on out is what matters."

Kara smiled at her words, in agreement with Leslie's assertions. She flipped the page to the front of the journal. "I remember well writing this one. I was feeling a bit more positive that day I suppose you could say. I had been reading a biography of Mahatma Gandhi and of the two thousand pages in the book one quote struck a chord with me. He said _'each night, when I go to sleep, I die. And the next morning when I wake up, I am reborn_ '. I wish it were that easy."

"Why can't it be?" Leslie asked. "You went into the sun. By all rights, by every law in the Universe, you should have died. Maybe you did and you were reborn. Your damn scar next to your eyebrow is gone. Your body had every single impurity wiped away from it."

Kara considered that, not having quite thought about it in those terms. She asked, "Then why do I want a drink so badly?"

"Because who you were will always be a part of you." Leslie explained. "It doesn't mean it's who you are now. You will always have to deal with the past in some manner."

Kara lay back against her headboard and looked out her window at the stars above the ocean.

"Do you believe in reincarnation, Leslie?" the girl asked.

Leslie was taken back by that question. "I've never really thought about it. Believe it or not, I'm not very spiritual."

"I believe it." Kara told her. "I've been thinking a lot about it today. When Alex and I had our experience with John Constantine..."

"Drop the black magic. I really don't believe in that." the woman told her quickly.

Kara looked at her in disbelief. "The man took us inside the red ring using a dead finger as a talisman, where we fought the Inversions and locked them away until the Invasion. Are you saying that wasn't magic?"

Leslie rolled her eyes. "I don't like to think about it, okay? As your therapist and boss I forbid you from using any magic to... do anything."

Kara laughed, enjoying the irritation on the woman's face. "I wasn't thinking about using it. I was thinking of something he said. He told us that Alex and I have always been sisters in past lives. I wonder if those lives were as difficult as this one has been.

"I am sure General Patton would have loved aliens as much as Lane and Eiling, but I was fascinated by his life. He believed in reincarnation. He wrote a poem about it. Patton believed that he was a warrior since the dawn of man and every time he died he came back to fight in another war. He swore he had memories of battles he had fought in. Do you think that's us? Me and Alex, I mean? Do you think we die and then are reborn, destined to fight another war?"

Leslie took a moment before answering. "I think Patton should have stuck to cussing, planning tank battles and left the poetry to Shakespeare. What the hell difference does it make? Who cares about past lives or future lives that may or may not have happened. From the way Jeremiah described John Constantine, the man was probably drunk so don't take what he said at face value. If you want to think about things, think about you."

Kara sighed, not really willing to drop the subject entirely, but deciding to discuss it with someone other than Leslie. Maybe J'onn had some insight, she could ask him at some point when things were a little more settled for her family. "Yes Ma'am, boss. You should get some sleep. You look rough... rougher... than usual. Not that you always look rough, you just look..."

Leslie interrupted her ramble. "I look rough from dealing with brats like you most of my life. I need to talk to Alex before she comes to bed... in here. Honestly, you may as well just move her bed in here. She isn't going to be able to sleep without you near. Do you have any idea how hard it was for me to convince your parents and Super Brat to sleep somewhere else? I realize you have the power of a god right now or something like it but maybe you can try to get some rest too, okay? That's an order. At least lay down and close your eyes for eight hours."

"Yes Ma'am." Kara told her with a salute.

Leslie walked out, leaving her alone with her journal. She read through it again and closed the book.

The blonde heard Leslie in Alex's room and decided now would be a good time to do something about all her journals. She didn't want Alex to see them ever again.

Kara sped to the attic, grabbed the three boxes of journals and zipped back through to the basement. Once there, she entered the Fortress, unsurprised to see her parents and Clark asleep there instead of in their beds at home.

Eliza was tossing in her covers, mumbling in her sleep. Kara walked over and kissed her cheek.

"It's going to be alright." the girl whispered in her mother's ear.

Eliza relaxed and curled into Jeremiah once again.

Slipping out of the Fortress door as quietly as she could, she walked out into the snow, her sweatpants and t-shirt practically freezing from the temperature change. She carried on, sludging slowly through the snow, taking her time. She had no destination in mind, just walking, holding the three boxes of journals.

When she stopped, she dropped them unceremoniously to the ground.

The girl thought of saying something but there was no point. She was not burning her past, but she was burning the reminder of the girl in pain who had written those notes.

A flash of heat vision, a burst of flames and the journals were nothing more than ash in the snow.

She needed to get back. Alex would be ready to sleep soon, and would no doubt wonder why Kara's sleep wear looked as if they had been exposed to subzero temperature. Moving in a blur of speed, she reentered the Fortress and headed back to her house.

Kara needn't have worried because as soon as Leslie had left her bedroom, the doctor had entered Alex's.

"Dr. Danvers." Leslie greeted the woman who was sitting on her bed with a laptop.

"Dr. Thompkins. Isn't it getting late? You did have a heart attack not long ago and we still need you alive. The last thing I need is to take care of an invalid with a bad heart considering everything else going on." Alex told her, maintaining a straight face for a moment before laughing at the look on the doctor's face.

Leslie glared at her. "I can't believe I miss the days when Kara was my only client. So… let's talk."

"Kara is in the house." Alex told her quickly.

Leslie shrugged her shoulders and sat on Alex's desk chair. "I doubt you two have any secrets from each other any longer. This isn't about Kara regardless. This is about you and your Mom."

Alex stiffened slightly and pushed herself against the headboard, then closed her laptop. "What about her? We haven't been fighting. We've been working together. Everything is fine."

"Bullshit." Leslie told her. "You two may not be butting heads over Kara but the tension is so thick in that ice palace it could be cut with a knife. Everyone feels it. Jeremiah, Clark... Kara. Even the robot is picking up on it. I want you ..."

"To let it go, right?" Alex cut in.

Leslie gave her a withering stare for a moment. "First, I want you to stop interrupting me. Now tell me, why her?"

Alex was confused for a moment. "I told you, they didn't..."

"Stop!" Leslie nearly shouted, holding up her hand. "You say they but it's her. Why not anyone else? I told you to move on and accept it. Bruce and Alfred didn't believe you. Dick Grayson never believed you. The two ninja women that prepared you for your one woman war on Cadmus didn't believe you. J'onn thought Kara was dead. Your DEO buddies had written her off. You talk to your father as if nothing happened. Yes, you are still a bit standoffish with him, but your Mother is a different story. You are furious with her and her alone. Tell me why."

"I'm trying to let it go, okay? But... I don't know." Alex was deflecting and Leslie was apparently having none of it.

"Yes, you do. Tell me." The woman demanded.

Alex sat in silence for a moment. "Kara was a Daddy's girl. She craved his attention and approval. Zor El was so cold to her... she never had any kind of father until Dad. Kara would actually call him Father if he showed the slightest amount of disapproval. She would hurt herself if she thought Dad might be angry with her. Like I've told Kara before, the only things she wouldn't stop doing, knowing Dad didn't approve, was alcohol, drugs and Dick Grayson. In everything else, she craved his approval."

"Okay, go on." Leslie encouraged her.

"Dad was and is heavily involved in Clark's life as you would expect. They bonded over guy things, sports, action movies, fishing. But Mom... Mom was always mine, I guess you could say." Alex said thoughtfully, staring more at the wall than the therapist.

"In what way? Did you feel your Dad didn't love you?" Leslie asked probing.

Alex looked shocked for a moment. "Of course not! I know he loved me, and I know Mom loved Kara. It wasn't like that. We weren't separated. But Mom, she was the one I could confide in, outside of Kara. When I needed advice, something I didn't want Kara to hear, she was the one I went to. When I was upset, she was who comforted me. We talked about Kara, our worries, plans to help her drag herself out of the pit that had become her life. In college, if I had trouble with girls, or classes, or just dealing with the crap around our lives, I talked to her when Kara was in one of her... moods. We also shared a love of biology. I could talk bioengineering with her, and we shared the different things we'd learned or discovered.

"She was mine and she abandoned me when I needed her most."

Leslie took that in for a moment. "So you take your anger out on her."

Alex shook her head. "It wasn't just that. She was always in my face, telling me Kara was dead and to let myself grieve. She didn't want me to comfort Clark, assure him Kara was alive. Dad stayed out of it for the most part, but Mom never let up. Ever!"

Leslie said nothing while Alex tried to compose herself, rubbing her eyes and catching her breath from the outburst.

"Okay," Leslie told her when it appeared Alex had gotten it together. "Let's play a game. It's a role playing game but not the kinky kind I played in my younger days."

Alex cringed. "I think I just threw up in my mouth."

"Yeah, I had younger days. They were right before I heard of a family called 'The Danvers'. Now, imagine you're a mommy."

"I'd rather not." Alex told her.

"It's a game so you are going to have to. Now let's set the scene. There are rules. First, you have three children, one boy and two girls. You don't have some mystical bond, that I grudgingly accept by the way, linking you to a daughter, like you have with Kara. You love your children but this connection that is special to you and Kara doesn't exist. Got that?"

Alex shrugged her shoulders. "Sure. You want me to put myself in Mom's place. You aren't hard to figure out."

Leslie stared at her for a moment more, making Alex uncomfortable.

"Carry on." Alex told her to break the silence.

"You have a daughter, one who can burn herself. One who can damage herself with heat, can cause physical damage. This girl knows she is going to die. She knows she is going to the one place she cannot survive. The girl even goes as far as leaving a verbal suicide note for her family, via a psycho that dresses like a bat. Kara _knew_ she was going to die."

Alex sat and waited, irritated.

"Now… you are Mom. Your son is grieving, turning bitter, depressed, just like his sister had been and could very well have the same issues. Your husband feels like a failure, blames himself for everything, because his little girl is dead. And your other daughter, what is she doing since you know so damn much?"

Alex took a deep breath. "I'm working to get my very much alive sister back."

"Shut... up. You are the mother in this situation, not you. The son is reeling, doesn't know what or who to believe. Her daughter... her daughter claims to have some connection to her sister that no one can understand. Incidentally, she begins hanging out with two ninjas who are preparing her for a one woman war against a group of shady operatives who torture and kill aliens..."

"Cadmus was a danger..." Alex retorted.

Leslie waved that off instantly. "Cadmus was not an imminent threat so stop making excuses. You and Kara could have wiped them out anytime over the past eight years, killed them all easily. You were looking for a target and they were a convenient one. Back to role play, Mom. What are you going to do to keep your family from falling apart? Without understanding this mystical connection her daughter talks about, claiming she knew in her heart her sister was alive, what are you going to do?"

"Believe my daughter." Alex answered.

"Bullshit! You are Mom, now. Not Alex Danvers. You have two kids relying on you and a husband. You are grieving the loss of a child. Everything you have been led to believe, everything that you have witnessed in your life, every scenario you can think of tells you that your daughter is dead. You have two children left, one with a severe case of denial and one who, on top of becoming bitter and depressed, is also entering his teen years and feels like an outsider because he is an alien. What are you going to do?"

Alex thought for a moment, trying to place herself in her Mother's head.

"I don't know." she admitted.

Leslie raised an eyebrow. "You don't know? You are the mother. If you don't know, who does? Your daughter is angry but unlike most daughters who become angry, your daughter has high powered weapons and the skill to take out hundreds of enemies and begins doing just that with no regard for her own life. This daughter is living in denial in your mind because what other explanation could there be? No one can survive being in the core of the sun. No one. You don't need Shay Veritas to tell you that. You've done the numbers; you've seen what happened when the daughter in question burned herself. You know she wasn't invincible. C'mon, Mom, hurry up. Your family is falling apart around you and you haven't had time to even grieve over the loss of a child. What are you going to do?"

"I don't know, okay?! I can't pull myself out of my own head enough to tell you!"

"You wouldn't try to help your son start to heal? You wouldn't try to talk your daughter into accepting her sister was gone? Because guess what? Your actions? Your actions very much resembled a daughter who was in extreme denial. Slaughtering Cadmus had nothing to do with getting Kara out of the sun or protecting Clark. Don't lie to me about that! If they were a true threat... they didn't even know about Clark and you knew that. There was no reason you couldn't have passed the intel onto your DEO buddies and left it. So Mom, your daughter is slowly going crazy, becoming more violent every day, more withdrawn, angrier, obsessed with something you don't believe could be true. What are you going to do? Nothing? You aren't going to try and help her cope? Nice job, Mom."

Alex said nothing for a moment, beginning to shake from anger. "She should have believed me," the woman finally whispered.

Leslie laughed, angering Alex even more, as Leslie was known to do.

"You only knew because you say you felt it. If not for that, would you even have believed it yourself? You say you and Kara have a special bond but expect everyone else to feel the same."

"No, I don't expect them to feel the same! I expect them to believe me when I say I feel it!" Alex exclaimed.

Leslie countered her argument. "You wanted them to take the word of a girl who was angry, depressed and homicidal, based off something they couldn't feel themselves. No, you don't have that luxury when you are a Mom trying to hold a family together, wanting the best for her husband and remaining children. You are emotional, just like Eliza. Neither of you are good at hiding your feelings. You may be good at masking them behind sarcasm but anyone who really knows you can read you like a book with those big letters for people with bad eyesight. Role play over. You failed."

Alex turned her body, so her feet were on the floor and she was facing the therapist. "I failed?"

Leslie nodded. "You failed. You didn't hold your family together. Neither did Eliza but at least she tried. You sat there and told me you didn't know what to do. By the way, if Kara hadn't come back on her own, it would have taken you years to begin to figure out a way to get her from the sun. Wouldn't it? You know, you did the work. How close were you to finding a metal that could even survive the trip to the sun, much less near the core? Then to find a camera, to search for her, to find a Rann transporter or a Phantom Zone projector that could..."

"I get it! I wasn't close. But she came back to me! She heard me calling for her… my voice! No one else's!"

"Exactly." Leslie pointed out. "She heard you. Because of that bond you two share, she broke out of more pressure than anyone in the universe could have escaped from. No creature, no planet, nothing should be able to handle going into a sun much less escaping it and flying as fast as she did to Earth. You think Clark didn't cry at night, asking her to come home? You really think your parents didn't want her home, praying? Wishing she were still alive? If Kara hadn't pulled off nothing short of a miracle, she would still be there, and you would be here for years trying to find a way to get her out. How much longer before your mind completely snapped, Alex?"

Leslie leaned forward, pinning Alex where she sat with nothing but the truth. "If Kara hadn't returned, honestly… how much longer could you have held onto your sanity?"

Alex looked at the ground, knowing the woman was right in that respect. She had been going slowly insane, consumed with the need for vengeance, crushed by guilt and sorrow.

She confessed quietly, "Not long, I guess."

Leslie nodded, feeling she had done the best she could do for the moment. "You won't get over this easily, but you will have to move past it. You may never get over the feeling of being abandoned but try to remember to look at this from other's points of view. Your parents are not perfect. Neither are you and Kara. In the past, it didn't matter because you all held each other up. If you ever want to move forward again, you are all going to begin holding each other up. That's it for tonight. I need sleep. Apparently I can't die yet because I am still needed."

Alex gave her a small smile. "I am seriously reconsidering that statement right now."

The next day the Danvers found themselves in the Fortress, ready to start another day working on what Clark had called 'Operation Sunblock'.

Alex handed the visor to Kara who took it without hesitation and walked out of the Fortress.

Alex then marched to the monitor to watch Kara outside and examine her power levels, hoping this visor would work. She came to a stop by Eliza who gave her a shy smile.

"Ready for this?" her Mom asked.

Alex shrugged her shoulders, hesitating a bit. "I just hope it doesn't blow up in her face… or ours. If this works, it could significantly reduce the time it will take to balance out her power levels. The sooner that happens, the sooner I can slap her on the back of her head without hurting my hand."

"Did Leslie talk to you last night?" Eliza asked, sounding very hesitant and unsure.

"Yeah, why?" Alex asked cautiously.

"Did she make you role play?"

"What goes on in sessions..." Alex started to say before seeing the look on her mother's face. "Why do you ask? Did she say something to you?"

Eliza grinned and shook her head. "She made me do it. I was just wondering. It gave me a lot to think about."

Alex crossed her arms and looked at the monitor, lasting thirty seconds before her curiosity got the better of her. "What ... did... what did you do? I mean what did she..."

Eliza spoke softly. "She asked me think about what it would feel like to have a sister, one whose presence you could feel all the way into the sun. A sister that everyone believed to be dead. She made me think about how I would feel, knowing something with all my heart but even those closest to me, my family, not believing me. It hurt. It hurt horribly. I realized I would feel isolated and angry. So damn angry. Maybe as angry as I was when Henshaw raided our house or when Astra threatened Clark. Maybe more. I would feel abandoned and alone.

"Despite that, I wish I knew what that kind of bond feels like. I had to imagine, and it hurt to think about, but it must feel so special… despite the pain."

Eliza turned fully to her, tears in her eyes. "I'm truly sorry, Alex. There is nothing else I can say. I hope you forgive me one day."

"I..." Alex started, not sure what to say in return but struck by the emotion and sincerity in her Mother's voice. Before she could reply, Kara had unleashed her heat vision outside.

After a few minutes, it appeared the visors were doing their job, not only pushing back against her heat vision but dissipating the energy so it would not explode in her face or tear through the visor.

"It's working." Jeremiah said excitedly, watching the solar sensors on Kara's body onscreen, indicating a definite power drain.

His optimism was tempered a few minutes later when Kara screamed and dropped to her knees.

"Kara!" Alex called. "Kara, what is happening? I'm coming out."

"No." Kara's tired voice told her over the com. "I'm coming in. I'm fine… I just have a splitting headache. I haven't felt a headache in a long time, probably since my last hangover. Did it work at all?"

The parents and siblings smiled at one another; relieved knowing Kara was okay.

"Five minutes and a four percent solar radiation drop." Alex told her happily. "If we can do this two or three times a day for say four minutes, we could be at normal levels in a couple of weeks or so. No need to push it. Come inside and we can check your head, make sure your headache isn't from any brain damage and is just a headache."

Kara made her way inside quickly, snow covering her body as she stood there in soccer shorts and a sports bra, then began ripping sensors off her body.

"My head is feeling better already. I think it was just a head rush from using so much power. It's been a while since I exerted my heat vision." Kara told her family, sitting in her designated chair while Kelex placed a crystal band around her head.

"She is fine, and the results are positive. The trial run has been a success." Kelex told the group, sounding pleased. "Not that I would expect it to be any less considering my considerable amount of work on the project. Now, I must be off. I have a therapy session with Dr. Thompkins. I feel like I should be charging her. The entire time she simply sits and asks how I have put up with Alex and Kara for so long."

The AI began to walk out when an alarm went off. Kelex turned and hurried to Justin followed closely by Alex and Kara, the rest of the family not far behind.

"What is it, Kelex?" Kara asked anxiously. She knew what that alarm meant. Something strange, out of the ordinary was happening in Midvale. The program would have never worked in National City but here in Midvale, it was easier to identify anomalies. For this type of alarm, it must have been triggered something huge.

"Someone has broken into the high school. I am checking the cameras now, but they are cut off."

"Can you bring them back up?" Alex asked.

Kelex did not turn to Alex but his irritation was clear. "I'm going to pretend you didn't ask that."

Soon the video feeds from the school cameras were all on Justin's massive screens.

"Three men in the administrative archives." Kara mumbled. "They won't find anything on us. We removed all those records years ago. But why are they there? And why can't we see that one's face clearly?"

The family looked at the blurred face, hoping it would clear up.

"Facial recognition blocker?" Clark guessed. Kelex shook his head.

"Different pattern from Kara's glasses. This image seems almost smudged. It appears to be an image inducer, popular among aliens who wish to blend in with humans." The AI told them.

"Damn it." Alex whispered.

"Perhaps we shouldn't panic yet. We don't know what they are looking for." Kelex suggested.

Kara looked at him in disbelief. "You know of any other alumni of Midvale High that three possible aliens would look up records on?"

"You have a point." Kelex admitted begrudgingly.

Alex had a sudden thought. "Kelex, check the cameras in my office at the University. Check Mom and Dad's too. See if anything out of the ordinary shows up in our secure feeds."

Kelex worked in concert with Justin quickly, isolating the feeds from the time Alex and the Danvers had been missing work. Eliza and Jeremiah's offices were untouched except for their known assistants. Alex's secretary was shown placing things on her desk and generally maintaining her office, but Kelex quickly found a strange visitor, noting the same blurred face.

"Go back and slow that down, Kelex, focus on what he's doing." Alex ordered. Kelex was obviously concerned as he made no snarky comment to her demand. They watched the intruder look quickly around the office, then hack Alex's computer. They weren't worried knowing she kept nothing on it except her University and CDC work.

They became very concerned when the alien picked up the photo of the young sisters.

He was seemingly mesmerized by it. His excitement was obvious as he spoke softly, too low for them to understand, before carefully placing the photo back on the desk and exiting.

"Kelex, back that up and amplify, I want to know what he said." Alex said. Kara was standing right beside her, visibly anxious because of what they were seeing.

" _Amazing. Kara Zor El. Kara Danvers. That was your Earth name."_

The alien's words immediately galvanized the group and Kara snapped into action. "Clark, go home and bring as much food and drink as possible to the Fortress now. Use superspeed, no screwing around. I'm going to grab emergency rations from the basement and getting Leslie. We are bunking in the Fortress. Alex, call Bruce and J'onn, tell them the situation and have them come to the Fortress through the Batcave. Dad... send a signal to Lobo. Tell him we need him here yesterday."

"If they are at the school, I guarantee you they will be at our house soon." Kara said and it didn't go unnoticed by everyone that she was slipping into her old Supergirl persona, giving orders, not requests. "We have cameras with scanners all over the land and the outside of both our houses. Once they visit, we will know what we species we are dealing with. Hopefully they are just members of Alex's fan club and tracked her down to thank her in person."

Alex looked at her doubtfully and Kara admitted to herself that was wishful thinking.

"Regardless, until we know what we are dealing with, we need to prepare. Kelex, go to my work area. When I get back, we are going to weaponize you, more than you are now. Alex prepare your suit, just in case."

Alex looked surprised, then a bit guilty. "My suits were destroyed along with yours. You know that."

Kara shook her head. "You know none of those are the suit I am talking about, Alex. I know you would never give up Project Sundown. Just prepare it for worst case scenario. Let's move everyone. We know what to do, we have planned for this since we installed the transporters in our homes. 'Siege Protocol' is now in effect. Mom, when Clark and I return, shut down the Rann Transporters in our basements immediately. We knew this day might come. Now we will deal with it, together."


	24. Chapter 24

**Do not own CW or DC characters**

 **Chapter 24**

Bruce Wayne stood next to Kara and Alex watching Justin hacking into every camera in Midvale. The three men who had broken into the High School two days before had been all over Midvale, setting up camp in the one hotel in town under obviously false names. The Danvers, Leslie Thompkins, Bruce Wayne and J'onn J'onzz had all been at the Fortress the entire time.

More disturbingly, the men had surveilled Alex and Kara's house and their parent's and brother's home several times, looking from a distance but not approaching. It was obvious to the girls and Bruce they were waiting for one of them to be home.

"Yes!" Kelex shouted. "I found facial recognition for one of them… finally!"

The girls and Bruce moved quickly towards the computer bank where he stood.

"So at least one is human?" Kara asked, relieved. She had not been happy when Kelex could find no match for any of them anywhere around the world. She knew they must have been aliens but not even the DEO registry had any record of them, making them complete unknowns.

"No." Kelex told her pointing to one of the men. "This man is known as Lar Gand. He is the son and sole heir to King Lar Gand and Queen Rhea of Daxam at the time of Krypton's destruction."

The room froze, all eyes wide, turning to Kara who stood stiff, fists clenched.

"That... he... they... slave owning... war mongering... as bad as the House of El... that son of a bitch is scouting out my home?! Looking for my Sister?! My Brother?" Kara finally shouted, her eyes completely red.

Alex, exuding calm, rubbed her irate sister's back. "I'm not going to bother asking you to relax, but if you are going to go supernova, put the visor on, take it outside and pretend you're Elsa."

All of Kara's anger was snuffed out in her confusion with Alex's request. Calming rapidly, her eyes returning to their normal blue, she turned to Alex. "Elsa?"

Her sister grinned, eyebrows raised as she replied, "Yep, just… _let it go_."

Kara stood still for a moment, before she shook her head and took a deep breath, snickering. "Nerd. Nope. I am cool. Considering what the House of El has done, who am I to judge? Kelex, what are we looking at power wise?"

Kelex shrugged his metallic shoulders. "I have no idea, never having met a Daxamite under a yellow sun. I do suspect, however, that he has some powers similar to yours which would explain the trio's behavior."

Alex agreed. "They have approached our homes, seen cars in the drive but haven't knocked on doors or conducted an assault. I'm going to guess he is using X Ray vision."

"Meaning we have to assume he has the same powers as mine." Kara told her, plans forming in her mind already. "Mom, Bruce, we are going to need some red sunlight cuffs. Alex and I will keep working on the containment cells."

Bruce raised an eyebrow. "Containment cells? Cuffs?"

Kara nodded. "We need them to tell us what they want and if there are more of them."

"And then?" Bruce asked.

The sisters looked at each other, Alex nodding at Kara to continue. "And then… if they can be contained by the DEO, J'onn, if he ever returns with intel and lunch, can wipe their memories of us and you can deliver them to the boys in black. If they can't be contained, we send them to the Phantom Zone. We aren't killing them. No matter what."

The Danvers and Bruce were surprised by the conviction in her voice.

Leslie was not.

She had watched Kara carefully since the 'siege' had begun. She was not surprised that Kara's Supergirl persona came to the forefront, making decisions, giving orders, but she was pleasantly surprised that at no time did Kara say she planned to kill anyone. Neither did Alex. Leslie had no doubt pre-sun Kara and Alex would have had these three aliens skinned by now. She was pleased by the change.

"And if neither of those are good options, we will send them with Lobo." Alex added happily, knowing the Phantom Zone was a better option than Lobo. "Speaking of our bestie, has he gotten back to you, Dad?"

Jeremiah looked at the ground and nodded his head in frustration and fatherly disgust. "Yeah, he contacted me an hour ago. Apparently he was already on his way here to, and I quote, ' _Take his lesbian lover out on the town and get her laid.' "_

"Why didn't you tell us?" Kara asked.

Her dad looked at the crystal ceiling and sighed in resignation. "I was hoping the both of you would change your mind about needing him. I didn't tell him about Kara. I just sent the distress call and he replied today. After he told me... that... I hung up on him."

Kara bit back a laugh. "J'onn should be back soon. I hope his cover wasn't blown. If he can get into their heads, it may give us a better idea of what we are facing."

Bruce walked away from the screen in Kelex's work area and returned to Justin which was tracking the three alien intruders. They were at the Diner where J'onn had set up to surveil them and it appeared they were now leaving, walking back to the Hotel.

"No sign of any new cars or rentals in Midvale. No traffic cams showing them entering Midvale." Bruce recited, reading the results of a records search.

"No traffic cams in Midvale, Dork." Kara reminded him.

"Maybe they are flying." Alex guessed. "All three of them."

"What about the shaggy haired one, Kelex? Any Daxamite records on him?" Kara asked.

The AI shook his head.

"I wish J'onn would get back." Leslie grumbled.

"J'onn will be fine." Alex assured her.

"I know that. I want him back because he said he would bring lunch. I told him extra pickles on my cheeseburger. He's got a super Martian brain, right? Is there some secure bat shaped phone I can call him to remind him of that?" the doctor asked.

Kara, Alex and Bruce looked at Leslie, wondering if she were finally losing it.

"I told him to bring you a salad." Bruce told her bluntly. "You did have a heart attack recently."

Leslie shot the finger at Bruce a second before Justin lit up.

"J'onn wants to approach Mom and Dad's." Alex said. "Kelex, where are the three subjects?"

"At the Hotel." Kelex replied. "Activating your parent's transporter. Tell him it's a go."

Five minutes later the Martian walked in, still in the form of an old truck driver. He had bags of food in his hands.

Kelex turned to the computer and deactivated the transporter to the Danvers' basement immediately.

"What did you find out, J'onn?" Kara asked.

"Could you read their minds?" Alex asked.

"Did you get extra pickles on mine?" The room looked sharply at Leslie who shrugged her shoulders. "I didn't ask to be stuck full time in Elsa's palace with only microwave food. I'm hungry."

J'onn placed the bags on a large table and morphed into his true form as the family sat down and began opening bags. Once everyone was settled, he began.

"I couldn't read any of their minds." J'onn admitted.

"One is a Daxamite." Kara told him quickly. J'onn's eyes rose at this.

"Any ideas on why one of the other two would wear an image inducer? And what about the third one?" the Martian asked.

"I'm fairly certain that one is an alien who doesn't normally resemble a human. So we have an unknown, a Daxamite, and another unknown who is human in appearance, possible Daxamite, but we can't bank on it. We need to scan them." Alex told the group. "What did they talk about?"

J'onn shrugged his armor clad shoulders. "Not much. I heard one ask where Alex could be since her car and bike are home, where the Danvers might be, teenagers might hang out, suggest going to the beach and taking a look. Two seemed very stressed. One said if they can't find Alex, the mission is a bust. The one who was wearing the image inducer told him to watch what he said in public."

The group ate in silence for the next five minutes, only Leslie complaining that extra pickles did not mean only three pickles.

"What's the plan?" Bruce finally asked. "We can't let them continue to nose around Midvale. If they are working with others, those others could be on their way. We need to take them down hard and fast, make them disappear. We can ask them why they are here after they are in custody."

"Maybe someone could just ask them?" Clark suggested. "J'onn was right next to him. It's not like if they were evil they would have attacked him in a public place, right?"

Alex and Kara looked sharply at the young man. "Seriously?" Kara asked. "Have you learned anything from the fights Alex and I have been in? If they are evil, they will definitely attack in public, use the panic of others to escape or attack while you are distracted. Always get them alone. Speak to them from a position of power. C'mon, Clark. Keep up."

Clark snorted. "I know you haven't noticed that I have had plenty of powers for years now. So what if he is a Daxamite? He's like some spoiled rich prince or something. It's not like he can fight. You shouldn't be involved Kara. If anyone sees you, even..."

"Oh, right." Kara stopped him. "Seeing me would be much worse than seeing the local Junior High star athlete fighting a Daxamite over Midvale. People wouldn't think that was strange at all… and you can't assume he can't fight. You can't assume anything, Clark. You start assuming, you've already lost."

Alex bit back a laugh, listening to the two. What she was most happy about was Kara's tone. She may have been criticizing Clark, but her voice wasn't the same as before. She sounded more humored than annoyed and wasn't close to being angry.

"If he has the same powers as you, then..." Clark tried again to reason with her.

"Fort Rozz, Infernians, Thanagarians, Tammereans, metahumans, Doomsday, Livewire, Indigo, Worldkillers. Clark, you think a Daxamite is something to worry about?" Kara said, her tone not condescending, more trying to get Clark to see the bigger picture. "We just need to know what we are dealing with and then we'll handle it."

Kara looked over to her sister. "Alex? Ideas?"

The older sister nodded her head. "We're going to have to draw them in towards the house, at least the driveway. Once our cameras capture them, the biometric and tech scans will tell us exactly what they are and what weaponry they have."

Eliza sighed. "Alex... could I go to your house and draw them in? They want you, not me. If I am caught..."

Alex laughed and placed a hand on top of her mother's. "Relax, Mom. No one is going to be in any danger. Kelex is just going to turn the TV on remotely from here. They have been approaching the house every three hours for the Daxamite to use his X Ray vision. Even if they don't see anyone in the house, they will hear the television and think something has changed, come closer to investigate. Once they do, we'll run the scans and learn what species they are then plan accordingly.

"Tonight, we will turn on the lights again. Only this time, I will be inside the house and they will most likely come to the door. J'onn, Bruce and Lobo can surround them outside. They will surrender, we bring them back here, put them in the cells and we are good."

"And if they don't surrender?" Jeremiah asked. "What if they fly away? J'onn won't be able to take them all."

"Then we make them surrender." Kara stated. She waved in the direction of Bruce and J'onn. "Alex will join the three amigos in subduing them while Clark and I will be above. If they try to fly off or give us any problems, we will suggest they return to the ground peacefully."

Clark's eyes widened. "I am? You are going to let me be with you?"

Kara shrugged her shoulders. "Do you want to be? This is your family too. Good or bad, these people want something, and we won't speak to them until we have them under our control."

Eliza began to open her mouth until Jeremiah laid a hand on her shoulder. She looked at him, saw him shake his head and let it go. She hated everything about this but Clark being involved... Kara being forced to deal with them, Alex setting herself up as bait, albeit bait with high powered weapons and kickass ninja battle skills, it was becoming too much and she felt a need for her pills.

"I'll make sure he is safe, Mom. We won't become involved unless we have to and he will follow my lead, do everything I say, right, Clark?" Kara asked, playfully, but everyone knew it was a serious question.

Clark nodded his head furiously, a large smile on his face.

The family continued to pick at their food before Bruce spoke. "Didn't someone say Lobo was going to be here?"

Hearing no answer, he took that as a yes. Not that he needed an answer because at that moment, without Kelex moving, the front door to the Fortress opened. Outside of the Danvers, Bruce and J'onn, only one man had that kind of all access pass.

Kara winked at the table and stood, a huge smile on her face. "Guess I should say hi to my bestie."

The blonde ignored the groans from the men at the table and moved at super speed towards the front of the Fortress.

She stopped twenty feet in front of Lobo, still smiling.

The man met her eyes and stood still, taking in every inch of her. Kara did the same, pleased to see he hadn't really changed. Same seven and a half foot tall, muscular grey body, dressed in leather pants with a skull belt buckle, the same red eyes, long black hair and a necklace of some sort with fangs from some poor dead creatures, hanging around his neck.

"Hi." Kara greeted him with a little wave.

Lobo said nothing, still staring. Although his face was hard to read at the best of times, he looked furious suddenly. "Alex! Get your scrawny ass over here now!"

Alex had already been moving towards the two but broke out in a sprint, sliding to a stop next to Kara.

"What's wrong, Lobo?" Alex asked, barely holding back a smile.

"What's wrong is you have finally lost it! You had her cloned! I realize you got separation anxiety going on, a lot of deep, deep disturbing emotional problems… but this? You cloned her? ...did you make two? Just asking for a friend."

Alex closed her eyes. "I didn't clone her, Lobo. Kara is back. She came back..."

Lobo shook his head. "I might look stupid, but you know I'm not. Where is the scar next to her eyebrow? You cloned her. That's just wrong, Alex. I know you miss her; I know it sucks but cloning?... seriously did you make two?"

"There is only one of me, asshole." Kara told him. "I almost died, but I held on. My body burnt away, the red ring is gone, the Worldkiller is gone, but I survived. It took a while for my body to rebuild itself, but it did. I escaped the core of the sun, flew to Earth in a few hours, caused an epic crater in the Amazon Rainforest, and here I am, good as new."

Lobo looked at her a few seconds more. "If you are really Kara, what did we do three years ago on New Year's Eve?"

"We were drunk!" Alex shouted before she could stop herself.

Lobo raised an eyebrow, confused, knowing Alex hadn't been there and there was no way Kara would have told her.

"I'd like to know what you did too." Jeremiah said, walking up to the girls.

"Nothing." Alex and Kara shouted.

"If you call skinny dipping off the coast of Maltese nothing... then yeah, I guess you got it right." Lobo said, rolling his eyes, but his face starting to relax.

"You swore to me you would never bring that up ever, Lobo." Kara told him.

She walked closer to the man, reaching out and placing a hand on his cheek. "You know Alex doesn't have the tech to clone a human, much less a Kryptonian. I didn't expect you to break down in tears when you saw me but asking if she had another biological sex doll in my image? That's cold, even for you."

Kara took the hand that was on his cheek and slapped him, sending him to the ground then stood over his laughing form with a large smile.

"I missed you." she told him.

Lobo stopped laughing long enough to catch his breath. "Damn, I missed you too, girl. Rebuilt your body, escaped from the sun and made it to Earth in record time. You are one bad bitch. When are you going to realize we are meant for each other and we can stop all this Rachel and Ross stuff?"

Kara reached out a hand and helped pull Lobo to his feet, wrapping her arms around his middle. Alex approached his other side and hugged him as best she could considering the height difference.

"We were planning on telling you when things got settled down. Alex and I have had a pretty intense time since I got back. Unfortunately, we needed you immediately." Kara told him.

His arms around both girls and a wicked grin on his face, Lobo said, "How about we tell Daddy to go home, pull out the crystal beds and things could get weird ladies."

"Lobo, shut up." Jeremiah told him.

Lobo moved his arms away from the girls and stood straight. "Apologies, Dr. Danvers, sir. Could I have your daughter's hand in marriage? I don't really care which one at the moment… although to be perfectly honest, I'd prefer both. I know a planet where we can all get married, all nice and legal like, recognized on 967 planets."

Jeremiah walked away, the three following, laughing at the grumbling father, but mostly just glad to be together again.

Lobo knew something bad was up when he saw the entire group camped out in the Fortress including Bruce and J'onn.

Walking over to the corner, the man pulled up the large crystal seat Kara had made for him years ago and had a seat at the table.

"Okay, so whose ass do we need to kick?"

The girls shrugged their shoulders. "Three unknowns that have somehow tracked mine and Alex's human identities, probably Clark's if they know about me." Kara explained. "One was a Daxamite prince at the time of Krypton's destruction, one is wearing an image inducer so we can't get a face to search databanks for and another is human in appearance, but we can't find any trace of him in the Universe. Our facial recognition can't match him, so I am guessing alien with unknown powers. They have investigated our house several times since we have been holed up in the Fortress but haven't approached. We think the Daxamite has X Ray vision and they can all most likely fly. They haven't gotten close enough to our house for our security cameras around the property to get a scan."

Lobo shook his head, wondering what was different about this situation. This wasn't the first time the girls had faced unknown threats.

Then it hit him.

"Why haven't you two sent these three assholes to their graves yet?" he asked, ignoring the others, just looking at the sisters. "I'm guessing none of you want the Earth to know Supergirl lives and all that crap, but this is Midvale, they are on your turf and they are still alive. I don't get it."

Alex quickly spoke up. "We need information, to know why they are here. They are looking for me and probably think Kara is dead. There could be others. We can't kill them until we know everything."

Lobo looked at the two carefully, neither one meeting his eyes. "Yeah, you capture them, torture them, then take them out. What am I missing here? Would you two ladies mind looking me in the eyes?"

Alex and Kara raised their heads slowly, Kara sitting up straighter from her relaxed position.

Lobo looked at both the girls for a while then suddenly smiled.

"You lost it. You both have." he realized.

"My girls haven't lost anything." Jeremiah snapped.

Lobo shook his head, not bothered by Jeremiah's tone. "I can see it in Kara's eyes mostly. You've lost the bloodlust, the desire to fight and kill. It's not in your eyes anymore. You both had this look before, an edge I saw in the mirror every day… and I pose in the mirror a lot. You had that look of someone who would kill with the slightest provocation. It's gone now."

The girls nodded their heads.

Lobo smiled, surprisingly happy with this development. "Glad to see that. So what do we do with these assholes once we find out what we need to know? Wipe their minds and hand them to the DEO? Phantom Zone maybe? Or you want me to take them somewhere no one will find them, ever?"

Kara looked around the table, not surprised to see Leslie watching her intently even if she was pretending to be not listening. She also saw Clark with an anxious look on his face.

"We need to know what they know before we can decide." Kara told him. "I am hoping when they see our show of strength they will surrender peacefully, allow themselves to be taken into custody, then place them in the containment cells we have ready. As far as information, if J'onn can't read any of their minds, then you and Bruce can get the information from them. You are right, we just don't have it in us anymore."

Lobo was nodding, pleased. The Danvers girls had lost that dark spark inside them. Not just Kara from her trip to the sun, but both of them. Something serious had happened to these two. "I'm game. Where are these guys holed up. I can do a scan. Got a couple of robotic insects that can track them unseen and tell me everything I want to know about them, down to the size of their..."

"Lobo!" Eliza snapped.

"Sorry, Mrs. Doctor D. Seriously, where are they?"

"Midvale Holiday Inn, room 303." Alex answered. "You sure your bug won't be noticed by them?"

Batman shook his head. "If it is and they try to escape we can capture them once they are a safe distance from Midvale, on an open highway, or follow them to their base of operations."

"And if they fly?" Kara asked.

"Then we handle that too." Bruce answered.

Lobo went back to his ship, followed by Bruce, J'onn, Alex and Kara, as well as Clark who Kara had pulled along with her. Kelex moved back to Justin, pulling up a clear view of Midvale and the surrounding areas in a fifty mile circumference in the event a group intercession was needed on the road and the most remote area needed to be known.

This left Leslie with the Danvers parents. She didn't need her degrees to understand what they were feeling.

"Forget it, Eliza." Leslie told her.

Eliza stopped looking at her purse and turned to Leslie. "Forget what?"

"Grabbing those pills. What kind of message is it going to send Kara, if every time you become anxious you pop pills? How is that different from when she took drugs?" Leslie leaned forward, making sure she Eliza's full attention. "Those pills are prescribed, taken once a day to help with anxiety. They are not some safety net for you to hold on to and use every time you become nervous or panicked. We have talked about this. I can sit with you alone and we can do breathing exercises, but that's it."

Jeremiah wrapped an arm around his wife. "She's right. I'll talk to Kara. I don't know what she was thinking wanting to involve Clark. Bruce, Lobo and J'onn can handle this. None of our children need to be involved."

Leslie laughed sharply. "I have news for you two. You may as well get used to this. Clark will follow in his sisters' footsteps one day. Kara is right for including him now. They are in a situation where they have superior firepower and the risk to him is minimal. He needs this and they know it. He has to feel confident and he has to see that this work can be done without killing, that it works much better with friends, a team surrounding him. That's what Kara is showing him. You should be thankful."

Eliza looked at her as if she were insane. "Thankful? I don't want Clark to be some superhero! Look what it did to Alex and Kara!"

Leslie shrugged her shoulders. "Clark is going to be a hero whether you want him to or not. You didn't want Kara and Alex to become involved, but they did anyway. Clark has a great opportunity. He has mentors who know how to do it right and know how to do it wrong… mentors that don't want him to make the same mistakes they did."

"Kara and Alex were nearly the same age when they began training. Look at what has happened!" Jeremiah argued, very loudly.

Leslie nodded her head. "Yes, that's what happens when you are molded by special forces soldiers who only know how to kill to solve a problem. Those men did the best they could, of that I have no doubt, but Kara and Alex were always going to be made into their image.

"Clark has two sisters who are sick of it all, sick of the violence, sick of the blood. Look at the impact it has already had, just hearing that Kara doesn't plan to kill these aliens, no matter what. The boy isn't nervous for his sisters like he has been in the past. It is evident in his questions, in his manner. He isn't even angry about them becoming involved. He is ready to jump into action and also has a few guides with him like J'onn and Bruce who never want to see him take the same path those girls did."

Eliza disagreed. "Clark has said repeatedly that he wants nothing to do with saving humanity."

Leslie laughed quietly and shook her head. "You really thought that would be possible? You raised these children. It is because of you that Kara was driven to fight her Aunt and Uncle. If not for you, is there any doubt she would have found Astra eventually and done whatever the woman brainwashed her into doing?

"Kara didn't fight to save humanity, she fought to save her human family. You raised Clark to be a good kid. He is going to help people when they need help. He won't be able to stop himself. Face it, your lot in life has been to raise superheroes. A lot of parents have it worse. Some raise criminals, some raise selfish brats who think the world owes them everything and don't want to work for anything. Some parents raise children who take what they want, no matter who it hurts. You two? You raised Superman.

"Superman has two mentors that he can learn from… mentors that will teach him all they did wrong and help him not repeat those mistakes.

"Kara and Alex had mentors that taught them how to break necks, turn off their emotions, channel their rage and put enemies down permanently. He won't have that. He will have all of you."

The parents were quiet, soaking that in.

"Eliza?" Leslie finally spoke.

"Yes?"

"How often do we taken anxiety medication according to your doctor, in other words, me?"

"Once a day, in the mornings." she answered.

"How do we handle anxiety?"

"Breathing exercises, focusing on a single object, close my eyes, relax my muscles, repeat my mantra."

Leslie nodded, pleased that she remembered.

"Jeremiah?" Thompkins addressed him.

"Yes?"

"None of this is your fault. It never has been. If you keep blaming yourself for everything, Kara will eventually start blaming everything on herself and neither of you will heal. Be strong Dad. You have watched nearly every fight Kara and Alex have ever been in. When they come back, take Clark to the side and give him pointers."

Jeremiah was confused. "What could I possibly tell him that Kara and Alex, or J'onn couldn't?"

Leslie shook her head. "It doesn't matter. It will mean more, give him more confidence, and show him more support if you do it anyway. He needs to know you are on his side.

"When he went to Junior High, you were no longer his baseball coach. A man was paid to coach his team by the school. Did it ever stop you from giving him advice?"

"No, I suppose it didn't." Jeremiah thoughtfully replied.

"And he listened to you." Leslie pointed out.

Jeremiah nodded his head.

"Because no matter what, it felt good to have his Dad in his corner. You are both going to have to be in his corner the rest of your lives, the same as your daughters will. You are all going to show him the right way to be a hero. It starts today."

"What am I supposed to tell him?" Jeremiah asked honestly.

"To do what Kara says would be a start." The doctors told him. "I'm going to call Alfred and ask him to come in through the Batcave and bring me another burger loaded with pickles. Watching Brother Eye repeat everything Justin is already doing is a waste of his time. He needs to make himself useful."

Two hours later, after watching the bug readings from Lobo's ship, the group walked back into the Fortress toward Justin and Kelex.

"No movement, but I suppose you all already know that." Kelex told the group as they approached. "What have you discovered?"

Kara did not like what they had found out and thought of telling Clark to stay back, but it was too late. The boy had begun offering suggestions as soon as information had started being gathered.

"The one with an image inducer is a Coluan, but not like Indigo and he definitely isn't cruising around in a skull shaped ship. This one is more organic." Kara told her metal friend. "Alex is going to prepare a virus weapon if needed. A pretty nasty one."

Alex nodded and continued. "I don't believe, looking at his organic matter that he can break down his body digitally and move over information networks. He is a Coluan though so incredibly smart, probably why they are taking such a cautious approach."

"He also has a belt on. Scans show it emits an energy barrier, most likely some type of forcefield." Kara added. "The one that is unknown is the man with really black shaggy hair. He is emitting some strong electrical impulses from his body, similar to Livewire but not the same biometrics. I don't believe he can turn his body into electricity but can most likely emit strong amounts of it. Kelex, you are going to need to be grounded for this mission."

"I can't participate?" the robot asked, his tone pained as if his feelings were hurt.

"No, you will be there. I just have to make sure you are grounded to protect you against power surges. If he can control electricity, he may go for you first. You need to be able to withstand the shock and send more back, overcharge him. Lobo and Bruce have enough red sun devices to handle the Daxamite. If they surrender, we put them in cuffs and knock them unconscious. If they don't, we knock them unconscious and then put them in cuffs." Kara explained.

"And if your weapons can't break this forcefield?" Jeremiah asked.

Kara shrugged her shoulder and looked at her smiling little brother. "Then Clark and I are going to hit it... hard."

"We are also going to do this at Jeremiah and Eliza's home." J'onn told the group. "The yard between the back porch and the edge of the cliff is much longer. At Kara and Alex's, we would be forced into close combat with the house in front of us and the edge of the ocean directly behind us.

"Once they are on the move, I will go to the house and take Jeremiah's shape, so when they arrive, I will be there to greet them. Everyone will converge from Alex and Kara's home, behind them. Kelex, once I greet them, enter the basement and go to the front of the house then around to the back. Kara and Clark will be on the beach, listening for if they are needed."

Kara watched her parents, especially Eliza, carefully. To her relief, the woman did not look as if she were planning on grabbing Clark and running. She even appeared to be giving deep thought to the plan as was her Dad.

"What if they don't surrender?" Jeremiah finally asked.

"Then we make them." Bruce answered confidently with a dangerous tone in his voice Jeremiah had become familiar with over the years.

"Now all we can do is wait. If they follow their pattern, they will go to our house shortly after dark." Kara told the group. "In the meantime, while Alex prepares the virus, the rest of us need to examine the scans on those rings more in depth… they were emitting a strange energy. If they are flying, I have a feeling those are the means that Brainiac Lite and Lightning Boy are using."

 **Midvale one hour after sunset**

The three Legionaries flew over Alex Danvers' residence and, to their great disappointment, saw the house was once again empty of life.

"This is ridiculous, Brainy." Lar complained. "Her car and bike are home, as are her parents but there have been no signs of life since we arrived in Midvale. Wherever they are, it's obvious they don't want to be found. In other words, they know we are here and are hiding."

Brainy reluctantly agreed on some level but something didn't make sense. "Perhaps… but everything we know about Alex Danvers suggests she would not hide if she knew about us. Ambush us and attempt to kill us would be more likely. She would likely contact the Martian Manhunter and Batman and we have seen no signs of either of them. In a worst case scenario for us, she would contact Lobo and he was never known for subtly or subterfuge. Regardless, she would not just disappear. Perhaps we should take a chance and enter her home."

Before Lar could remind Brainy that he was the one who said it was a bad idea, the Daxamite heard a noise very close by.

"Television." Lar realized.

"From?" Garth asked.

Lar looked to his right and smiled. "Danvers... Superman's residence. Let me look."

Using his X Ray vision, he saw Jeremiah Danvers on the couch eating from a bag of Chocos.

"Jeremiah Danvers is at home. No one else though. That's strange. Days of nothing and now the man appears in his home, eating some sort of small chocolate cookies and watching television." Lar said, more to himself.

Before Brainy could think through this situation, Garth was already in motion. "First break we have had since we arrived in this time period. Let's go say hi."

The man flew off quickly, leaving Brainy and Lar struggling to catch up.

The three landed on the front porch facing the ocean.

"Let me do the talking." Brainy told the other two.

The Coluan knocked on the door softly and was pleased to hear the TV sound go away.

The door opened with no hesitation and a smiling Dr. Danvers was in the doorway.

"Can I help you gentlemen?" he asked.

"Sir, Dr. Danvers. My friends and I have come from far, far away to speak to your daughter, Alex. It is a matter of life or death. Do you know how we can contact her, even by phone?" Brainy asked politely.

To Brainy's concern, Dr. Danvers did not appear surprised by the request.

"Congratulations. You found her." Dr. Danvers said as he closed the door in the three time travelers faces.

Before they could determine what that meant, something flew past Brainy's cheek and planted itself in the door. It was a small, bat shape blade, similar to one in the Legion's museum.

Only this one was glowing.

A bright light blinded them all, causing them to stumble away from the door and trip over the steps before hitting the ground.

When the three regained their bearings, they stood up slowly and looked around.

Before them, they saw the dark silhouette of Batman. Next to him, in very tight armor that appeared Kryptonian, was Alex Danvers, weapons attached to the forearms of the suit she wore. Next to her was Lobo, a chain in hand attached to a very sharp blade that was glowing red.

They heard a noise and saw the Martian Manhunter was now on the porch, a large robot with a glowing optical scope next to him.

The three turned back to the people in front of them.

Alex Danvers stepped forward and raised her arms, the small cannons attached to each one, powered up and glowing. "Like J'onn said, congratulations, you found me. You all have three seconds to lay face down on the ground and be restrained peacefully."

Lobo stepped forward, standing comfortably beside their deadly quarry, a large smile on his face. "And if you don't, we are going to have a very fun, very messy time. Your call, boys. You're down to two seconds."


	25. Chapter 25

**Do not own DC or CW characters.**

 **A/N I'm sure many of you if not all who have stuck with this series are big fans of Melissa Benoist like I am. If you are, you have probably seen the video she posted on IGTV. If not, I would recommend you go to her profile on Instagram or search for it on Youtube and watch it. She talks about Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) and shares her personal story of what she endured. This series has dealt with many difficult issues like substance abuse and mental illness. What she went through in real life was a nightmare and I'm sure deeply affected all who watched it, as it did me. It was an incredible act of courage on her part, opening up to the world like she did. 1 in 4 women are affected by IPV but it doesn't just affect women, but men as well. If anyone of you or anyone you know is experiencing this, call the hotline she mentioned in her post 1-800-799-SAFE or visit futureswithoutviolence website. I can't add links because of ffnet policies but google it.**

 **Chapter 25**

 **The Danvers' Residence**

Brainy had gone over multiple scenarios that he envisioned could possibly occur when they finally found and contacted Alex Danvers.

In the best case scenario, perhaps a phone call, or a friendly stop, telling her he needed to speak to her desperately with nothing less than the fate of the Universe at stake, might be the best way to open a conversation. By catching her attention, making no hostile moves, he hoped she would be intrigued.

The worst case scenario would have been Batman or Lobo confronting him and his companions during their search for the elusive Miss Danvers. Seeing no sign of those two or the Martian Manhunter had given him hope that the worst case scenario would not occur.

Knowing the Martian Manhunter generally patrolled Metropolis while Batman stayed in Gotham, the Coluan also had hoped Lobo was on the other side of the Universe. When he finally talked with Alex Danvers, he wanted no interference from those three that could possibly sway her opinion about helping them. Should she be angry or hostile, he would be back the next day and the next until she understood he was no threat.

When they had arrived in Midvale several days ago and the entire Danvers family had disappeared into thin air, he feared she had run.

But of course, that was not the case.

Instead, and true to what information they had gathered on her, Alex Danvers had called her friends and been preparing an ambush. He had no doubt she had been planning this since the Legionnaires arrived in Midvale, though he did not understand how she had done so while remaining undetected.

Now he was faced with a dilemma. Should he fight, trying to hold them off until they would talk reasonably? Or give up, no doubt placing himself and his friends in an indefensible position by either being captured or, given their adversary, something much worse?

And he had two seconds to decide.

Despite being a twelfth level intellect, none of the options looked good enough in the time allotted him to decide.

"One." Alex Danvers calm voice said.

Time had run out.

Lobo's chain flew towards them, wrapping around Lar's upper body, dragging him to the ground, the red illuminated blade digging deep into his thigh, causing blood to cascade immediately, some landing on Brainy's face.

Batman fired some sort of taser gun towards Garth, the barbs attached to wires, sticking in his friend's chest, while the strange robot struck the man from behind with an incredible blast of energy from its optical sensor.

Brainy felt a blow, then another. The first was a blast he couldn't classify from the weapon attached to Alex's forearm. The other was a blow to the back of his head delivered by the Martian Manhunter, taking his legs out, slamming his body into the ground, and knocking the air from his lungs.

Gasping for breath, Brainy turned his head and saw Batman had thrown a box shaped device under Garth's feet that appeared to be siphoning the electricity from his body. Seeing Garth was incapacitated by the Batman, Brainy turned toward Lar. If he could remove the blade from his friend's leg -a weapon obviously imbued with the energy of a red sun- allowing their most powerful asset to fly, maybe he'd have a chance to reason with the foes they were facing.

But he was too late. Lobo hit the man in his face, crushing his nose and causing Lar to stand limp in the chains and then collapse unconscious to the ground.

Brainiac's hand moved quickly to his belt and activated his force field a split second before another strike from J'onn J'onzz was about to land on his prone form.

The Martian's fist blasted back, and Brainy quickly stood. A blast from a charging Alex Danvers caused him to stumble back a bit but he remained on his feet. Alex reached him and the weapon on her forearm was gone, replaced by a glowing three foot blade she aimed at his legs. His forcefield protected him, sending her rolling back and then flipping to her feet. Her weapon returned and sent another powerful blast towards him. He felt a second blast no doubt from the robot behind him.

Steady streams of energy kept him in place, until Lobo hit him from the side, propelling him into a nearby tree. Had it not been for his belt, he had no doubt his back would have broken.

The Coluan slowly stood from the ground, taking in the scene before him. His two comrades were unconscious and though he was protected by his forcefield, the pressure he felt from the blows hurt. His forcefield may have protected him from physical contact, but each blow sent a pressure wave inside that would eventually cause him to lose consciousness, leaving his opponents free time to attack the barrier close to his body and eventually break it down.

He was also surrounded. Before him were Alex Danvers in a suit of tight fighting armor he had never seen before, Batman and Lobo who looked terrifying, some sort of weaponized robot and the Martian Manhunter.

To add insult to his and his companions' injuries, it had only been twenty two seconds since this encounter began.

Brainy needed distance. From all he knew about the group before him, none of them could fly except the Martian Manhunter who could not break his shield with his strength level. Brainy doubted the Martian could phase through it or he would have done so already. If he could make it to the air, he would be alone with the Martian and could hopefully talk rationally with him.

Brainy took to the skies, Lobo's chain following him, being blasted back to the ground by his forcefield on contact and flew two hundred feet into the air. He looked back down on his sudden enemies and fallen teammates, waiting for the Martian to follow him up.

The Coluan was not sure what happened next, only that he felt a powerful blow, a physical strike from behind that nearly caused him to black out and sent him back to the ground in front of the Danvers' house in less than a half second.

He shakily stood up from the indention he had made in the ground. What he saw nearly caused him to collapse again as his knees locked up and his mouth fell open as he stared in awe and disbelief.

Kara Zor El and Kal El were hovering in front of him. They did not have their famous suits on and Kal El was not yet the tall muscular man he would be in the future, but he was near Kara's height.

Kal El was wearing typical human attire: blue jeans, sneakers and a black t-shirt, the red crest of the House of El emblazoned on it. He also wore a slightly large jacket, made of types of leather stitched together.

As amazing as it was to see a younger Superman, it was his blonde sister that held the stunned Coluan's attention.

Kara Zor El was also not in her famous skirt or cape, instead wearing jeans, boots and a 'Prince' concert tour t-shirt.

They both gently landed then walked towards him slowly, their eyes never leaving him, but they appeared to be amused.

"Nice hit, Clark. You finally mastered the 'Supergirl punch'." He vaguely heard Kara tell Kal El.

"It's going to be called the 'Superman punch'." the boy told her, bumping her shoulder with his.

The two stepped up to his swaying form.

"You're dead." Brainy said in a bit of a daze, meeting Kara's eyes, all the others forgotten as he took in the blonde Kryptonian.

Kara Zor El smiled and shook her head. "That's either a threat or a poor observation. Hey Alex, do you recognize the look on his face?"

Alex stepped up beside her sister. "Yeah, I've seen it before. It's the look of a Coluan that realizes he is screwed."

Brainy shook his head. This shouldn't be possible. He knew when the United Planets recovered the Guardians' archives after the destruction of their race and the Lantern Corps, that Kara Zor El had used a red power ring, opened a portal to the core of the sun and never returned.

Brainy did his best to clear his head. "We come in peace. I swear."

Kara shook her head. "You came looking for Supergirl. Big mistake."

"No… I came searching for Alex Danvers." he told her.

"Yes… that's the same as looking for Supergirl." Kara replied pointedly. "I have to say, I have so much power in me at the moment, I am fairly certain I could do a handstand and push the Earth out of orbit."

Clark shook his head. "Probably not, Kara. The ground would most likely give, and you would tunnel into the Earth's core and through the lava. You don't want to chance being on the other side of the world naked... again. Do you?"

Kara nodded thoughtfully and crossed her arms. "You bring up a good point… and this is one of my favorite shirts. Prince gave it to me himself at a charity concert. Perks of being Supergirl. By the way Coluan, your image inducer got destroyed by the ass beating you just received. Judging by those dots on your forehead you are a member of the Brainiac clan. I would suggest dropping that shield and surrendering peacefully so you can be detained and questioned in a less violent environment that is more secure for my family."

Brainy finally pulled his gaze away from the beautiful woman and checked on his friends who were still unconscious on the ground.

"If I do surrender, will you listen to what I came to say?" he asked, hoping she would agree.

Kara stepped closer to him, blue eyes faintly beginning to glow. "If I were you, I would be more concerned about what will happen if you don't drop that forcefield. I've been watching the fight… or assault I should say. Your shield is close to your body but with every strike, you are beaten a bit more. I would say the pressure waves from those strikes are making life very uncomfortable inside your little turtle shell. If you don't drop it, my little bro and I are going to hit that shield so hard it will explode. The shockwave will turn your body into tiny, shredded pieces, and I will find out what I want to know from your friends when they wake up in cells. Your call."

Brainiac ran the numbers in his head. He needed a Kryptonian because only they would have the strength to break through the shield surrounding his ancestor's skull-shaped ship. To that point, he knew either one of the siblings could break his shield, and if they did, the force would pulverize his body.

To his relief, Kal El spoke up. "Wait, Kara… we can't do that."

"And why is that, Clark?" she asked, not turning from the Coluan.

"If we hit him in this direction, the shock wave will hit the house, destroy the living room, kitchen… probably collapse the whole house and then I will have green, gooey gunk all over my stuff." Clark explained reasonably. "We need to get behind him and hit him _towards_ the cliff. I think you have caused enough property destruction in your career, right?"

"I have not!" Kara exclaimed, slightly offended.

"Tammerean fight, downtown National City, wrecked six businesses and caused serious damage to seven high-rises. Or that time you threw Bane through three concrete walls, one of which was load bearing, bringing the four story building down on both of you." Clark was ticking off each fight on his fingers as he tried to keep from smiling.

"That building was abandoned and had asbestos." she defended.

"You've thrown thousands of cars at enemies." He stated cheekily, obviously enjoying bantering with his sister.

"All of which were very nice cars meaning they were insured." she countered.

"You caused pile ups with that fight on the bridge with Reactron, nearly destroying the bridge. You destroyed the top floor of Catco fighting Livewire… and what about that big, green rock guy you slammed into the street causing a massive crater and shutting down a major traffic lane for weeks? Remember the train car you slammed on top of that White Martian? Or the time..."

"Enough." Kara told him. "Ok, fine… point taken. Let's get behind him and do this."

"Stop!" Brainy shouted. He had been mesmerized at the siblings back and forth, mentally cataloguing every word, now he was panicking. "If I surrender peacefully, will you listen?"

Clark laughed. "Peacefully? You think you can fight us? You are right, Alex. Coluans can be cute when they are scared."

The two siblings walked behind Brainy while the rest of their team moved to the side. He turned, keeping his eyes on them.

"You can go first, Clark." Kara said, waving her brother forward.

"I surrender, okay?" Brainy shrieked when Clark raised his fist. "I will drop the shield; go to whatever cell you wish to contain me in. So long as you listen to me!"

Kara nodded as Clark relaxed his arm. "Good choice. Shield off… now."

Brainy touched his belt once again and felt very vulnerable. "Now will you please listen..."

That was as much as he could get out before Clark thumped him lightly on his forehead, sending him into darkness.

 **The Fortress of Solitude**

Alex and Eliza sat in chairs watching the three crystal columns, each containing an alien they had caught in Midvale. It had been hours since the three were brought in and placed in the containment cells. The red lights of the Fortress had been turned off for a few minutes while the Prince of Daxam's leg and nose healed before he bled out, but he stayed asleep. They all lay crumpled on the floor of their tiny cells, not quite able to lie down completely.

"How long do you think they will be out?" Eliza finally asked.

Alex had no idea. "We hit them hard and fast, beat the hell out of them, so I couldn't take a guess. Lightning boy over there had electrical energy siphoned from his body and took a pretty mean blast from Kelex. Bruce's grounding taser took him out at nearly the same time. Prince Daxam got the hell knocked out of him by Lobo plus the blood loss... and then Clark thumped that Brainiac guy with his finger, but it still probably hit with the force of a sledgehammer. Their vitals are good so one day... some day they will wake up... maybe."

Eliza shook her head and smiled. "I was terrified that you and Kara would be so traumatized by your ... experiences that you would both be... but you two have changed, for the better if you don't mind me saying so."

"Changed? We haven't changed. We just have each other's back. We work best as a team. We always have." Alex pointed out, a little confused if not somewhat pleased by her mother's praise.

Eliza pointed to the crystal cells. "The fact that they are alive is testament to how much you two have changed."

Alex conceded the point. She had hoped to never fight again, but it felt good to know that she still could. It also felt good that she had no blood on her hands this time … and neither did Kara.

Alex took a deep breath. "Hey, what you said... before we left... about being sorry."

"I meant it." Eliza told her.

Alex nodded her head. "I know you did. I... I didn't handle the past year all that well... I mean there are things I could have done differently... things I would go back and change if I could. It's not just you. I'm... sorry too. I know there is a rift between us, and I never wanted that. I guess I didn't exactly act in a reasonable fashion. What I mean is..."

Eliza placed her hand over the top of Alex's. "I know what you are saying… I understand. No matter what has happened, what mistakes we have made, what we have to work through, you understand that I love you, right?"

Alex nodded her head, her eyes becoming wet, she flipped her hand over to grasp her mother's. "Yeah… I know. I have never doubted you love me, you and Dad. I just, it was hard. I felt alone and..."

"I know, Alex." Eliza interrupted her, tears in her eyes as well. "I guess we have a lot to work on but as long as the love is still there... maybe we can work on forgiveness, for both of us. But right now, we should focus on these men, find out why they are here and how we can get rid of them so we can start rebuilding our family." Eliza suggested, the hope in her voice evident.

Alex nodded, a confirming smile on her face. "That would be nice. I miss our family. I know it can never be the way it was before but maybe that's a good thing. Maybe... it can be something better."

The two sat in silence for a moment longer, the tension between them alleviated for the first time in a long while. Eliza finally broke the silence with a humorous observation. "From the way Kara described Daxamites, I always assumed there would be a layer of slime on them. I'm surprised she didn't go for him first."

Alex chuckled and shook her head. "I don't think she... cares anymore. Krypton, Daxam, all the problems and rivalries just don't seem to matter. She is really letting the past go. Yeah, she got a bit angry when she learned who he was but overcame it quickly enough. I think she is just tired of all the hate."

Eliza agreed, glad to hear it verified by Alex. During this whole engagement, Kara had not thrown one punch or used heat vision at all. The drastic change in both her girls since they awoke from their mind merge fascinated her as much as it provided her with a cautious optimism. "Alex, I'm not trying to be Leslie. I just want to know for myself. If it's not my business..."

"Just ask, Mom." Alex told her, wondering what this was about.

"Have you had any desire for... alcohol?" her mother asked cautiously.

Alex laughed quietly. "I would down a bottle of bourbon if I could. But if I do... if I do it's over for both of us. I want one so bad. The memory of withdrawals is so strong, though. The hazy memories, the mistakes, the loss of control, the emptiness... I can't let that happen. If it happens to me, it will happen to her."

Eliza nodded, no longer surprised. Tentatively she asked, "What about... have you had any desire to harm yourself?"

A small smile appeared on Alex's face as she shook her head. "That's over... for both of us. At the end... before Kara teleported into the sun, she knew she was going to die but she wanted to live. For the first time in her life, Mom… she wanted to live so badly. That's probably a big reason why she survived the sun. She could have given up, but she fought. She fought so she could come back to us. She still feels that way. She wants to live, and so do I."

Alex's smile grew, happy to be sharing with her mother, knowing Kara wouldn't mind, knowing she could give her mom some peace after all the angst. "Kara still wants to be a teacher; she finally has things she wants to do for herself and her own happiness and she will. I will make sure of it."

"Her depression? Do you feel it?" Eliza asked.

Alex sighed and nodded her head. "The antidepressants help but it will be there with us, always. That's okay though. As long as we keep getting better… a day at a time."

Eliza was not surprised. She knew about trauma herself firsthand and knew the whole family would have to carry the past … even while working to leave it behind, day by day.

"You took on a huge burden, taking her problems as your own. You had your own and now you will carry hers… you both will carry each other's for the rest of your lives." Eliza stopped, looking thoughtfully at her daughter, apparently realizing something in that moment… something she hadn't really considered before. "Her burdens have always been your burdens, haven't they?"

Alex shrugged her shoulders. "She is my baby sister and I love her more than anything or anyone. So yeah, I guess they have been mine. I'm fine with that because _she_ has never been a burden."

"Hey, you two." Kara said, walking around a crystal column. "Talking about me?"

Though Alex wasn't fazed, Eliza fought back her surprise at Kara's sudden entrance. "We were just talking..."

"You realize I can hear researchers complaining about the meatloaf at McMurdo station and a captain of a Coast Guard vessel five hundred miles away, ordering a change of course, right?" she asked with a knowing smile, happily noting the easy atmosphere surrounding her mother and sister. "Time for you two to eat. I'll take watch, wait for the sleeping beauties to rise from their slumber."

"I'm not hungry." Alex argued half-heartedly.

"Alex, go." Kara ordered. "I can hear your stomach growling and I don't need super hearing. The faster you eat, the faster you can get back and brush my hair."

Alex smirked, then asked, "Have you used the visor today?"

Kara shook her head. "The red lights will be enough for now. I don't want to drain my powers any faster until these three are dealt with. Dad checked me and they are slowly going down… like before. Go. Both of you… eat."

The two women stood up reluctantly, hugged Kara and moved towards the back of the Fortress to where a small makeshift kitchen had been set up years ago by the Danvers sisters.

Kara zipped to the music room, grabbed her guitar and was back in less than a second. She took in the three strangers before her, thinking of what the Coluan had said and wondering what they would say when they woke up. Then she pushed the thought aside and began strumming her guitar and singing softly.

This was how Brainy and his friends found her when they woke with very large headaches and in Lar's case, a sharp pain in his leg.

The three stood slowly in the cramped cells, the crystal walls easy to see through. Kara paid them no mind, though Brainy had no doubt she knew they were up. Rather than acknowledging them, she continued singing:

" _I feel my wings have broken in your hands, I feel the words unspoken inside and they pull you under, I will give you anything you want, oh you are all I wanted, all my dreams are fallen down, crawlin' round and round and round. Somebody save me... Let your warm hands break right through me_..."

"Oh… you're finally up. Hope you don't mind. Don't ask me why but for some reason, I have always loved that song. It was recorded a long time ago, but I could never hear it enough when I was a young girl." She set her guitar beside her on the bench and faced her three prisoners. "I suppose you know who I am. I know you are a Coluan of the Brainiac Clan. You are Lar Gand, crown prince of Daxam at the time Krypton exploded, and you are... Livewire's boytoy?"

Brainy shook his head, trying to clear it so he could think straight. He slowly looked at the woman sitting comfortably in front of them from her feet to the top of her head. He had seen every video, every hologram, every image of Kara Zor El in recorded history.

It was her. There was no doubt.

"You truly are alive." he whispered.

"Yep." she answered shortly. "You Coluans really are twelfth level intellects."

"Every story ever recorded, every source of information says that the first Worldkiller entered your body and you used your red power ring to open a portal to the core of the sun, sacrificing yourself to save the world." Brainy told her, the reverence obvious in his voice.

Kara nodded. "That is mostly correct. I did go to the core of the sun. However, I survived and came back... a year later. I lived. The Worldkiller and the Red Ring weren't so fortunate. So, since you know so much about me, why don't you introduce yourself?"

"That's... the world never saw Supergirl again." Brainy continued as if he hadn't heard her, still stunned to be in her presence.

"And that is the way it is going to stay." Kara told him, any hint of humor in her voice was now gone. "Now, back to who you are?"

Brainy heard a sizzle and turned to his left, hoping to stave off the foolishness.

Instead he was shocked to his core, electricity flowing through his body as he fell to his knees. Judging by Lar's screams, the Daxamite felt it too.

Once the pain stopped, he shakily stood up and took in the satisfied smile on Kara's face. "Before any of you get any ideas, these cells are impossible to break. I'm almost offended you tried to use something as simple as electricity to break out. As you have just learned, Lightning Boy… if you use your powers, the electricity is transferred into your friends' cells. Unless you want to fry them, I would suggest you behave. Also, you should all know that the crystal floors you are each standing on are glowing blue for a reason. Those are Phantom Zone projectors. A simple order to my friend who runs this place and you three are gone and not coming back."

Brainy peered cautiously at the glowing blue floor beneath his feet. He also realized something that he should have noticed right away. A quick glance at Garth and Lar showed him they were all in the same position.

"Where are our rings?" he asked, a hint of panic in his voice.

Kara grinned mischievously. "As soon as Kelex determines they are safe, they will be with my parents and sister. For the first time, they will know what it feels like to fly freely. So, thanks for that. The technology in your belt is amazing as well. Should be great for defending our homes in the event we are tracked again. So, who wants to start? Brainiac Light, you seem to be the one who talks the most."

Garth practically growled. "We didn't have a chance to talk before we were attacked by your friends!"

Kara's eyes lit up and she glared at him, no hint of the previous playfulness in her expression.

"Which is totally cool! I understand the situation and don't blame you a bit." Garth told her quickly raising his hands in surrender.

"Quiet, Garth." Brainy hissed. Addressing Kara, he changed his tone, the reverence he obviously felt towards her ever present in his voice. "Kara Zor El... Supergirl... I simply can't believe I am speaking to you, the first superhero, the one..."

"Brainy! Can you fanboy later before she incinerates us or worse… sends us to the Phantom Zone? I have no desire to go back." Lar said, cutting his friend off before he physically bowed down to the Kryptonian in obeisance. Looking around, a sudden thought occurred to him. "Wait, how do you have your powers? This place is bathed in red sunlight, I don't have any of mine..."

"Whose lacking focus now, Lar?" Brainy asked exasperated. Turning back to Kara, he suggested, "Perhaps you should ask your friends to join us so they can hear what we have to say?"

Kara shook her head. "They are listening. Answer my questions or you three are going on a quick trip to nowhere… literally."

Brainy cleared his throat. "I am Querl Dox, also known as Brainiac 5. The man you do not know is Garth Rannz from the planet Winath and you already know Lar Gand, former Crown Prince of Daxam, not a planet I would guess you are fond of. We are from nearly one thousand years in the future and desperately need..."

Kara raised her hand. "Hold up. You time traveled one thousand years into your past?! Do you know how stupid that is? Just being here and contacting us can have serious repercussions on the future you left!"

"If our mission is not successful, our future is doomed regardless." Brainy told her. "I understand the repercussions of time travel and we have done our best to minimize our effect on the timeline, but this is a desperate situation."

Kara raised an eyebrow. "Desperate enough that you felt it was okay to track down my sister and little brother? Desperate enough to find yourselves in the situation you are in?"

"Yes!" Brainy exclaimed. "We are members of a group called the Legion, a group you and your brother inspired. We come from different planets but formed a team to keep peace and fight evil. What we are facing now is something we cannot defeat. We needed Superman! Only he can defeat Brainiac 13!" Brainy rushed out, hoping she wouldn't interrupt.

Instead he saw shock on her face and then a bit of disbelief. "You traveled back nearly a thousand years to ask my 14 year old brother to come to the future to fight Brainiac 13? Are you out of your mind!?"

Brainy shook his head. "We were supposed to arrive 21 years from now. Superman does many things I can't talk about due to threats to the timeline. If he were to... be defeated in the future before he turns 35 and not make it back, it would have serious repercussions for our future."

"And what exactly does he do?" Kara asked shrewdly, seriously considering calling Lobo to come and end this interrogation by removing the prisoners before she immolated them for daring to come back in time for her brother.

"I can't answer that, and you know why." he told her carefully.

"Yet you have already threatened your own timeline." Kara stated heatedly. "So you need to make sure he lives to 35 but if Brainiac 13 kills him in the future and he doesn't make it back, the timeline changes won't be as severe. Or at least you hope they won't. You're an asshole! You know this, right!?"

"Not only that… you are an idiot! There is no way in hell Alex or I would ever let Clark travel to the future to fight Brainiac 13 no matter what age he is!" Kara began pacing, her displeasure with the time travelers' request evident in her glowing eyes. "You say you are members of a group called 'The Legion'? I'm guessing by the name there are more than three of you. So here's an idea… save your own worlds. All I am hearing is Earth doesn't have to worry about Brainiac 13 for a thousand years and that's all I need to know."

Kara stopped moving as she placed her hands on her hips, her eyes slowly turning blue once more. She looked thoughtful, taking in each of the three captives before obviously coming to a decision. "I can't let you go. If you go back, nothing will stop you or someone else from returning, trying to convince Clark to fight your battles. That's not going to happen. I have sworn off killing but... I suppose sending you to the Phantom Zone may be the only option." she admitted.

The matter of fact tone of her voice chilled Brainy.

"Brainiac 13 was in the Phantom Zone and he escaped." the Coluan argued. "I would too. Sending us there would be a waste of valuable time. Please understand..."

Kara walked closely to his cell and met Brainiac 5's eyes. She sighed. "You are right. Thank you for pointing that out that sending you there would be a waste of time. Looks like Lobo will get you after all. He knows of planets… prisons you will never escape from."

"No! I swear we will not come back!" Brainy promised. "But we must at least get back to our own time, to help our comrades. Our power source was depleted during the time jump. We only came searching for your sister because we suspected she may have been your partner and would have access to a power source that could take us back to our time. That is all we wanted from her… I promise. She is our only hope."

Kara's eyes grew wide. "Omegahedrons are rare and powerful, not trinkets to be handed out to whoever asks!"

"Your house is powered by one." Lar pointed out, earning him a sharp look from both Kara and Brainy.

"And it will continue to be, Daxamite." Kara stated succinctly, dismissing their need with a wave of her hand. Her demeanor seemed to ease up, appearing more thoughtful suddenly. "Why do you say Superman is the only one who can defeat Brainiac 13?"

Brainy relaxed slightly, sensing that she was calming down and at least asking for facts. "Brainiac 13's ship has an incredibly strong shield. Not even Lar can break through it. From my research into the history of you and Superman, I know either of you can generate the force required to break through the shield."

Kara looked at him sharply, obviously watching his face for any signs he was lying.

"Why didn't you come back for me?" Kara finally asked him.

Brainy was glad she continued to ask questions. "Because you had to stop Myriad, you had to defeat Doomsday, and you had to defeat the Worldkillers. Then you… died… doing the latter. There was no point we could ask you to risk your life to help us."

Kara snorted, a look of contempt on her face. "Glad to see you use heroes in the past and decide which ones you need and when exactly they become disposable assets. Sounds very heroic. No wonder you need help."

"We do not consider anyone disposable." Brainy countered. "Our number one mandate is to protect all life. We have no choice. This was a last effort. Please help us get home..."

"Superman isn't our last hope." Lar cut in. "You are."

Kara turned her eyes away from Brainy and took in the Daxamite Prince.

"You were never heard from again after your trip to the sun. If you come with us, help us, the timeline will not be affected." Lar explained, a hint of desperation creeping into his voice.

The three time travelers waited for her response. Her face was disbelieving at first then she broke into laughter.

Brainy watched her continue to laugh, clutching her stomach and collapsing in the chair she had been sitting on.

Once she calmed down, she spoke not attempting to hide the disdain in her tone. "Did you leave your brain in the future? Or on Daxam? You think I have fought the enemies I've fought, gone through physical and emotional pain, not to mention all the pain I've caused my family… survived in the core of the sun _for a year_ … and yet, you believe I will leave to go fight your battle? That's not going to happen… _ever_.

"Supergirl is dead. She is dead in the present and will not be making a guest appearance in the future. My fight is over and my brother's hasn't begun.

"Figure out how to defeat Brainiac without Kryptonians because there are only two of us left and I promise you, neither of us are leaving our family. I will n _ever_ leave them again. We've earned this peace. Your war is your problem… not my family's."

Leaning back in her chair, she stared at the three, all hope they could earn her help fading as she sat there unmoving. After a moment, she shook her head, obviously having come to a decision. "No… for the safety of my family, I can't let you go back, but I won't kill you. You will be taking a trip with Lobo as soon as he decides on a planet to dump you on."

Kara stood and turned to leave as Brainy began to panic. He had to think of something soon or he had no doubt he and his friends would be trapped by Lobo somewhere they would never be heard from again.

Thinking fast, he exclaimed, "There is another way!"

Kara turned back and looked at him, crossing her arms.

"This better be good." she told him.

"Brainiac 13 escaped the Phantom Zone... but Seg El, your great-grandfather, is still there. He must be. If you can give me access to a Phantom Zone projector, I can develop a device using your DNA that will enable me to track him in the Phantom Zone and pull him out. I can search the Phantom Zone safely. I rescued Lar from that area, and I can rescue him."

Kara stiffened at the idea. Seg El? It was likely he was still in the Phantom Zone. If he had escaped with Brainiac, they would already know about it in the future, probably using him to fight their battle. "And what if you accidentally release Brainiac 13 early?"

"I won't. I believe Brainiac 13 escaped around twenty years ago from this date." Brainy said confidently. "Records indicate he was rumored to wander the uncharted parts of the Universe, building his technology, gaining knowledge for the last thousand years. If he is still there, I can abort the process. You will be watching me. You obviously know enough about the Phantom Zone to know if I am betraying you and Lobo can do as he wishes. Please… give me a chance. The lives of billions of people depend on us."

Kara truly appeared to be considering what the Coluan was proposing. Her next statement dashed Brainy's hopes slightly. "You want me to help you… a Coluan… to bring my great-grandfather out of the Phantom Zone so he can fight and most likely die in your war."

Lar spoke up. "He is the only one who has stopped Brainiac 13 and didn't even have powers. I would bet he would love a chance to end Brainiac for good."

Kara stared at the Daxamite then Brainy, clearly torn with the idea of getting her great-grandfather out of that cursed, timeless void.

Brainy saw the opening and pushed further, hoping she would agree to his last ditch proposal. "You have nothing to lose. I may have stumbled upon Lar by chance, but I can use your DNA to track Seg El, it will be a simple matter to find him. I only ask that you give me a chance to speak to him. If he says no to helping us, I will accept that. You can offer your great-grandfather the chance to either finish what he started or stay here in this time. Either way he will be free!"

He could tell she was wavering, so he continued, "Supergirl, you and your team took us out in less than a minute. Without our rings and powers you would have no problem defeating us again! I can tell you how to make the tracker without leaving this cell. Please… consider it before you send us with Lobo. I know this is our battle to fight but we cannot win, and billions of people will pay for our failure with their lives."

Kara closed her eyes. "I will have to talk to my family about this."

Brainy leaned back against the crystal wall of his cell and relaxed a bit. He had said his piece. Now it was up to her.

Kara walked back into the center of the Fortress where her family, which included Bruce, J'onn and Lobo, sat in front of the large column of screens that was Justin.

"I suppose you all heard. Input?" the blonde asked.

Alex snorted. "In my opinion, you're right. They are idiots. I can't believe they bought that those blue crystal floors are really Phantom Zone projectors."


	26. Chapter 26

**Do not own DC or CW characters**

 **Chapter 26**

The Danvers family sat in the living room of the parents' house in silence.

The three time travelers were currently unconscious thanks to a special gas Alex had sent into their cells that Lobo had given to her. The five family members had left Batman, Lobo, J'onn and Kelex overseeing their prisoners' "care" in the event they awoke before Alex and Kara could return.

Leslie had gone to Kara and Alex's house to rest, deciding the conversation and decision that needed to be made was up to the family and not her.

Lobo promised the girls their prisoners would be out at least another four hours but had never used the gas on any of their species, so he wasn't sure. Thankfully, Brainiac 5 seemed to be a complete biological creature as opposed to what Kara had heard about Brainiac 13 who was apparently more machine than organic.

"So, what do we do?" Kara asked finally.

"Send them with Lobo." Jeremiah answered immediately. Kara and Alex both looked at him, eyebrows raised in eerily similar fashion. The father sighed and mumbled a quick 'sorry'. Looking at Kara, he said, "Ok, I'll admit... sometimes, while you were growing up, I would have nightmares of you and Clark never having escaped the Phantom Zone, drifting there in some half-life existence forever. If we believe this green guy... to have a chance at getting your great-grandfather out, we have to consider it. Alex, you have studied Phantom Zone projectors over the last year. Do you think what he says is possible? The ability to track someone in the Phantom Zone and bring them back without unleashing other prisoners?"

Alex said nothing for a moment. She had been thinking of little else and still wasn't certain.

"I need to know more, but I believe it is possible. If he tells me his theory..." She hesitated; her expression thoughtful. "Based on what we know, I believe they are from the future. I mean, why not, right? It wouldn't be the strangest thing we have ever seen.

"So if the Coluan is to be believed… and the Lar Gand guy, if he really was rescued from the Phantom Zone, then it's possible. The Coluan said he stumbled upon the Prince by accident. But even by accident, we know he can go into the Phantom Zone and pull someone out. If anyone could pull it off, it would be a Coluan from a thousand years in the future, as much as I hate to admit it."

Clark shook his head. "You two made a Phantom Zone projector when you were freshmen in college. You didn't need a Coluan."

Kara nodded. "Yes, but that was to send someone to the Phantom Zone. Finding someone, a specific someone _in_ the Phantom Zone is a different ballgame."

Clark looked at his older sister. "One of your plans for getting Kara out of the sun was to send a projector into the sun to suck her into the Phantom Zone then track her so you could pull her out. How far along did you get?"

Alex dropped her head in frustration. "Kelex and I were making progress, but we weren't close. The Phantom Zone, all we really know about it is from Kara's brief experiences waking up for a short time while floating inside. We have no real idea what it looks like. It was too much of an unknown with too many variables, so I was placing my hopes on a Rann Transporter and that is where we were concentrating our efforts."

Silence filled the room once again, all the Danvers in deep thought. Kara noticed that unlike their time alone before, this seemed to be a comfortable silence as opposed to the tense silence that had been a characteristic of her family since she escaped the sun.

"Alex, during the building process, would you be able to determine if the process is even feasible or not? For instance, if he were trying to release someone else or if it would even work?" Kara asked.

Alex looked towards her sister, deep in thought as she contemplated Kara's question. The rest of the family remained quiet while Alex worked through the problem in her mind. She finally nodded and answered, "I know a good bit about the projector and I'm an expert in alien biology, Kryptonian and Coluan being at the top of that list, so, yes, I believe so."

The blonde nodded slowly. "I think between your expertise and mine plus Mom and Dad's knowledge of Kryptonian DNA, we would know if he was leading us down a wrong path. It's just their story that bothers me."

Jeremiah raised an eyebrow. "In what way?"

Kara took a deep breath. "They went through a lot of trouble to track us down. They could have struck us at any time when I was Supergirl. If they weren't present during those years though and the world thinks I am now dead... why come after Alex? Is it just for an Omegahedron? Alex has saved a lot of aliens. There would be no reason for someone to come here for revenge. Alex hasn't been seen since my death, so the world most likely believes her to be dead, but these three had reason to believe she wasn't.

"I... I think they are from the future. The tech in those rings, the metal, the flight abilities, I don't even have the tech to build that. It isn't nth metal. If I could have made rings like that, Alex would have had one years ago. And that belt he had... if they were trying to change the timeline for their own benefit why come here?"

Kara paused a moment and finally admitted, "I believe they are telling the truth."

Clark wasn't surprised. He had felt the same when listening to them. The green guy looked at Kara in a way he wasn't comfortable with, but he was obviously in awe of her. What was more telling was he seemed in awe of Clark too, not something the boy was used to seeing. Clark felt he hadn't done anything noteworthy in his life and still wasn't sure if he ever would, superhero wise. He had calmed recently, focused on having Kara back and hoping that would bring Alex back to all of them but the bitterness he felt towards the rest of humanity had not faded.

Regardless, he believed them.

"Me too." Clark spoke up, catching everyone by surprise.

"Does anyone not believe them?" Alex asked.

Eliza shook her head. "I don't trust them... but I believe them. They say they came back for Clark but... he is too young. My biggest concern is giving them a power source so they can go back and try again in twenty years."

Clark spoke up quickly. "I swear, Mom. I will never go to the future. I won't leave my family, ever. Not now, not in twenty years. Kara was right. This is their battle fight to fight."

Jeremiah noted the conviction in Clark's voice but wondered. He was a young boy, turning into a young man faster than Jeremiah would like. Would Clark truly believe the same in 20 years? Or did he run into the same danger that sent his daughter's life into a spiral of violence, mental issues, other problems. He had wondered many times over the years if alcoholism and addiction were something that ran in the House of El. He wondered if depression was a common problem among all generations.

He also wondered about Seg El.

"What about the guy whose jacket you wore last night, Clark?" the father asked. "What if we could rescue the last blood relative the two of you have, the last true hero from the House of El? Would it be worth the risk?"

Alex shrugged her shoulders, having thought about this but not coming to any definite conclusion. One thing, however, did stick with her. "Over this past year, the thought of Kara being stuck in the core of the sun forever terrified me. If he is really there, then he is stuck in his own hell and has been for a very long time. Everything we know about the guy tells me he doesn't deserve that."

Kara nodded. "But the cost is him facing Brainiac again. We could release him from one hell only to send him to his death?"

Eliza shook her head. "Not necessarily. The Coluan asked for one hour. We will have much more time to talk him out of it."

Kara disagreed. "He fought Brainiac once, gave up his life for all intent. If we bring him out, he will go after Brainiac, try to end him. He wasn't his son, or Jor El, or Zor El. Seg El was an honorable man, a hero. If he's released and given the shot, he will finish it or die trying. If you would in his position, wouldn't you Clark?"

Clark looked at his sister then looked at the floor. "I don't know, Kara. He could be a part of our family. He wouldn't be alone in this world; he would have us. You know how hard it is to be alone so I don't know if he would want to go to the future to finish what he started or choose to stay."

Alex shook her head, not fooled. "Yes, you do know. Since we found that crystal, his jacket, his story… it was obvious the man was a fighter. The House of El did not become legendary on Krypton by being cowards or acting like your birth parents. We can try to talk him out of it, but I suspect we won't be able to. When the true heroes of the House of El decide something is worth fighting, they don't stop until the fight is over."

Kara took a breath and closed her eyes, going over every possibility in her head then deciding it didn't matter. "This is all theoretical. We aren't sure they are telling the truth or lying about getting him out to save their own skins." Kara told them. "For right now, I think we could all use a couple hours of sleep… even I'm tired. After we wake up, I want to talk to them again. We can discuss it some more if any of you think it's necessary, but the final decision should be made by Clark."

Everyone was surprised, especially Clark. "Me?"

Kara nodded. "I know, no matter what you decide in the future, these are the kinds of decisions you will need to make one day. You need to learn to trust your gut instinct. Listen to everything you hear our guests tell me. Think hard about it but don't overthink it. Then decide. We will back you, no matter what. Right everyone?"

The parents were the most hesitant but nodded agreement.

Clark looked to Alex who winked at him. "Soon you are going to be the only one with powers in this family. I have a feeling, knowing you, that whether you reveal yourself or not, you are going to make tough decisions at some point. This is a good place to start. We will talk about it, but this is your call. Get used to it."

Clark couldn't help the huge smile erupting on his face as he experienced a surge of self-confidence. His parents' belief in him was one thing. But his sisters… his heroes believing in him and supporting him? He was bursting with happiness.

The family retreated to their bedrooms, even Alex and Kara returning to their old room. To Alex's surprise, Kara was out before she was. Alex gave way to sleep reluctantly, hoping for once no strange dreams or nightmare inducing images would fill her head or Kara's.

Alex didn't sleep well though, even in slumber her mind going over everything she had heard from the three time travelers, and visions of the fight the night before, only this time, she ended up killing the three, standing over the corpses, while Clark stood beside her crying, asking her why.

Alex had no answer for him.

Her phone buzzed on her nightstand and she woke quickly, answering without looking at caller ID, not wanting to wake Kara. Phone in hand, she stepped into the hall and moved towards the bathroom, locking herself inside.

"Hello? Is anyone there?" she heard a familiar voice ask when she placed the phone to her ear. It was a voice she had not heard in a very long time.

"Cameron?"

"Alex." the woman whispered, relieved. "When no one answered, I thought maybe something had happened or you didn't want to speak..."

"What do you want, Cameron?" Alex cut in, half dazed from her restless sleep being interrupted and half disbelieving that the woman she had slept with for so many years was speaking to her.

"I wanted to... ask... just check in. I wanted to call days ago but I knew with the anniversary... of... anyway I called your office, but your secretary told me you had taken an indefinite leave, so I was worried."

"You called my office first?" Alex asked. "You have my number obviously. Why didn't you call me direct?"

The woman on the other end of the line hesitated. "I was afraid you wouldn't pick up."

"If I had checked caller ID before I answered, I wouldn't have. What do you want? I haven't heard from you in two years." Alex said.

"I didn't think you wanted to hear from me." Cameron replied.

"I didn't. Still don't, so why are you calling?" Alex was growing irritated.

Cameron hesitated before speaking. "I guess… I wanted to see if you were okay. Everyone at the DEO, most everyone knows what you have been doing since Kara... since your sister's death, wiping out Cadmus on your own, not letting anyone help you. I tried to ask Connolly if you were okay, but he would only tell me it was none of my business. But the rumors from the Metropolis office said you were done… that they were all dead. Is it true? Are you done?"

Alex felt her cheeks beginning to burn and not because of embarrassment. Cameron's true intent with this phone call was transparent in her questions. "You should listen to Connolly. It's none of your business… my whole _life_ is none of your business. It stopped being your business when we broke up."

Her ex said nothing for a moment and Alex prepared to end the call.

"Can I see you?" Cameron entreated her. "Just one time. I'll meet you in Raleigh, or Metropolis. I'll even come to Midvale. Please, Alex. I just want to talk. The way things ended..."

"They ended on your terms, if you recall, so you have no reason to be calling me or asking to see me." Alex said heatedly.

Cameron sighed. "Yeah, I know, but we never..."

"And we never will. That's why you are calling now, isn't it? Because Kara's dead you're thinking to try again? That's why you want to know if I've given up crime fighting, if I am done with Cadmus and just living a normal life… so I can be what you always wanted me to be?" Alex heard the hitch in her ex's breathing, letting her know she was right.

She needed to put a stop to Cameron's hopes for them because what she had shown Kara during their mind merge was the truth… Cameron had never been anything more than a distraction. She also had to convince the other woman to never contact her again, knowing if Cameron stopped by suddenly, Kara would be exposed.

"Let me be clear… it's over Cameron. Don't come anywhere near Raleigh or Midvale. If you do, you won't like how it ends." Alex warned her.

"You're threatening me?" Cameron asked in disbelief. "Were things that bad that you feel like you have to threaten me? Do you hate me that much? I thought after some time you may need a friend, someone who knows what you have been through."

Alex shook her head in frustration. Cameron had always blamed Kara for their problems. Hearing this, with Cameron believing her sister dead, she was surprised it took her ex this long to call… although Alex had been busy and apparently everyone in the DEO knew what she had been up to the past year.

Swallowing her annoyance, she decided the truth was the best response. "I don't hate you, Cameron… I just don't care. The past is over, and I am letting it go. All of it. That includes you. Live your life and I will live mine. I hope yours is a good life… I really do… but I'm moving on. I would suggest you do the same. Don't call me, don't stop by, and don't ask questions about me. Goodbye, Cameron."

Alex ended the call before the woman could get the last word, something Alex knew her ex loved to do. She took a deep breath and composed herself then opened the door.

She nearly screamed when Kara was standing on the other side of the door. "Damn it! You scared the hell out of me! What are you doing?"

"I need to use the bathroom." Kara told her innocently.

Alex's heart slowed back down to its normal rhythm. "Oh... yeah, let me get out of here."

Kara placed a hand on her shoulder. "You okay?"

Alex smiled at her. "We are letting the past go."

"And you can't chance her showing up here because she will see me. That's not fair to you." the blonde pointed out sadly.

Alex looked her sister in the eye. "Fair? We are going to live happy lives because we have earned it. That's fair. I never needed her. She is probably lonely and thinks you are gone so I would give her my undivided attention. It was never going to happen. You know how I felt, Kara. I'm just glad she called and didn't stop by unannounced."

Kara nodded. The last thing she wanted was someone like Cameron Chase knowing she was alive. "You and Mom will have a few more calls to make like that if we really don't want anyone else to know we are… I mean I am alive. It's going to hurt."

Alex knew what she meant, thinking of the people that had been a huge part of her life, close friends like Dick Grayson and mentors like Jason Connolly and Jessica. But it was necessary, and Alex knew that.

"Let's go to the basement." Alex suggested changing the subject.

"As soon as you move so I can pee." the blonde reminded her.

Ten minutes later the two entered the Fortress.

"Boys woke up briefly, tried to stand in their tiny crystal restraints. I think they are getting a little cramped. They're all sleeping again… I can give them a deep tissue massage to work out the kinks when they wake up." Lobo told the girls, a mischievous smile lighting his face.

Kara shook her head, having a good idea of what Lobo's idea of deep tissue meant. "They will be fine. I'll speak to them soon. I didn't hear Clark's heartbeat when I woke. Where is he?"

Bruce turned to the place the future Man of Steel had headed. "My guess would be the basement. He walked in that direction."

The two girls nodded and moved towards the basement of the Fortress where the lode crystal stood. Kara floated down and Alex jumped behind her, being caught before her feet could hit the floor. Clark was there in front of a crystal control panel, the hologram of Seg El standing tall before him.

"I thought this might be where you had run off too." Kara told him.

The boy didn't answer, instead continuing to stare at the image of his great-grandfather while wearing his jacket.

"Clark? You okay?" Alex asked, stepping behind him and putting her hands on his shoulders.

Clark nodded, not saying anything. The two girls stood behind him, letting him clear his own thoughts.

"We can't leave him there. Not if there is a chance, we could get him back." he finally said.

Kara nodded, the shimmering image holding her attention as well. "I agree." she admitted.

"But... how do we know if we can trust these guys?" Clark asked.

Alex answered truthfully. "We don't. Nothing we can ask, nothing we can say, will tell us for sure if we can trust them. We just have to follow our gut feelings, decide if the risk is worth the reward."

Clark was silent for a few moments longer. "If we let him out, he will go fight Brainiac. Look at him. He did it once. I've seen that look in both your eyes. When the invasion was coming, the two of you... you got this look. You changed. I knew there was no way I could stop either of you from fighting. He won't be any different."

"Probably." Kara admitted. "Or maybe he will want to be with what's left of his family."

"Maybe he is better not knowing his kids and grandkids destroyed the planet he gave his life to protect." Clark pointed out. "Which is worse, Kara?"

Kara closed her eyes for a moment, the question catching her off guard. "I don't know, Clark. I really don't. Neither is a good option, but that happens. Sometimes, there is no clear right or wrong. I guess you have to try and put yourself in his place. If you were there, stuck in the Phantom Zone, would you want out, no matter the cost, no matter how hard the truth is to hear?"

Clark shook his head, remembering when he had learned from Kara the truth about what the House of El had done to Krypton. It was a sharp pain in his gut that had not gone away for long time.

Alex patted him on the back. "Forget about it for now. Give it some time. Those three aren't going anywhere unless we decide to send them with Lobo."

Kara cleared her throat, catching the two's attention. "That's another thing. I'm not sure I can do that, send them with Lobo I mean."

"Of course you can." Alex assured her. "It's easy. You say, 'Lobo put them under a rock where they will never be found.' Then it's done."

Kara chuckled but shook her head. "It's the Daxamite."

Clark and Alex were both surprised.

Kara understood their reactions and explained. "He was the prince. He was born into a family that subjugated their people to poverty, servitude, owned slaves, started wars... but I was born into a family that destroyed not only my planet, but his as well. I know what happened wasn't my fault. I also can't assume he is like his parents. If these three really are what they say they are, he is obviously risking a lot to come on this mission. That isn't the behavior I grew up learning about when it came to Daxamite royalty. He was stuck in the Phantom Zone according to the Coluan... The House of El definitely took his planet from him. What would it say about me if I sent him into exile?"

Neither Clark nor Alex responded, not needing to. They were both shocked by her attitude, but it made sense. The man's reaction to their threat of sending the three to the Phantom Zone lent a strong credence to his story of having been trapped there, probably much the same way Kara and Clark had been. Did they really have the right to keep them from their homes?

In the past, the answer would have been simple. There wouldn't have even been a question because Kara and Alex would have killed them on sight.

Not hearing a reply, Kara walked to the opening of the basement and lifted Clark up, then tossed Alex up through the ceiling entrance. She took one last look at Seg El then floated up and closed the basement entrance.

Kara followed her brother and sister to the center of the Fortress where her friends and parents were waiting. Instead of greeting them, she looked at Kelex.

"Well?" she asked her friend ambiguously.

"The technology is safe. The wind outside is 9 mile per hour from the East and the temperature is 10 degrees Fahrenheit. I recommend staying below one hundred feet unless you wish them to be outfitted with portable oxygen. I have the thermal flight suits ready." Kelex informed her.

Eliza and Jeremiah looked at Kara questioningly.

"Ready to feel what it's like to fly?" the blonde asked brightly. "The rings are a bit big so keep your hand in a fist. Clark, you have Mom and Alex and I will take Dad."

"Flying?" Jeremiah asked, a hint of trepidation in his voice.

"Flying." Kara confirmed. "Suit up, Danvers. Time to take to the skies. It will be dark soon. Kelex give them small tanks and a ventilator in the thermal hood along with goggles. Sunset is an hour away so let's move."

Thirty minutes later, the Danvers stood in front of the Fortress. Neither parent had an idea how to fly, so Clark decided to give them a crash course, taking his sister and mother's hand and lifting up slowly.

Kara watched them for a moment, Alex being somewhat comfortable with flying due to her many trips in Kara's arms but never having experienced the feeling of floating herself. Eliza was more nervous but seemed to enjoy the view… until Clark let go of both their hands. Eliza literally yelped but continued to float. Alex did not make any sound. Instead her face showed excitement and she laid out on the air as she had seen Kara do millions of times, reached out her hand and took off, yelling in delight.

"Looks like she's a natural." Jeremiah said. "Any idea of how this works?"

"Lift it to the sky. I would guess from what Kelex has learned about it, it is some sort of metal that responds to the muscle's movements, even the slightest. If you want to go up, move up. If you want to turn, then turn. Just take it slow."

Jeremiah lifted his fist to the sky doubtfully. "I don't think this is going to work, Kara..."

Jeremiah shot into the sky quickly, Kara scrambling to keep up, grabbing his legs before he flew off into space.

"Drop your hand, drop your hand, drop your hand!" she shouted frantically.

Jeremiah did and began to drop, Kara catching him in her arms.

"Wow." she said nearly out of breath from the surprise.

"I'm going to be sick." Jeremiah moaned.

Kara laughed a bit. "I'm going to let you go, just stand, okay? No sudden movements. Ready?"

"You'll catch me if I fall right?" her Dad asked, slightly panicked.

"You always caught me. It would only be right." she told him.

Gently taking her arms from under him, his feet dipped below him, but he maintained altitude, not moving.

"Try to relax… don't think about moving anywhere. If you think about it, your muscles unconsciously respond. It's why you never have to think about moving your legs when you walk. Your brain tells you to go somewhere and your body follows." Kara explained.

The man laughed, beginning to relax. "So this is what it's like, huh?"

"Feels amazing, doesn't it?" Kara said brightly. "Just floating, having nothing under your feet. It was one of the few things I've never lost an appreciation for."

The two looked over the landscape and kept an eye on Eliza and Alex who had finally returned, zipping past them, needing Clark to slow her down.

Kara reached out and took Jeremiah's gloved hand. He looked at her and even though his face was covered by a mask and eyes covered by goggles, she could tell he was smiling.

They stood in the air, hand in hand, watching the sun go down over the icy landscape as the stars appeared and took its place lighting up the sky.

"I will never get tired of this view." Jeremiah whispered.

"Watching the stars with you… that has always been some of the happiest times of my life. We need to start again." Kara told him wistfully.

The man laughed. "I would think you would get tired of looking at the same constellations."

Kara squeezed his hand. "It was never about stars. It was about the two of us, just being together. It was my time to spend with my Dad. I want it to be again."

Jeremiah reached forward and brought her close to him, wrapping her in a tight hug. "I'd like that too. Tomorrow night we dust off the telescope. I don't care what else happens. Time travelers, Phantom Zone projectors, Lobo being on Earth… tomorrow night, just the two of us… alone."

Kara pulled back and turned back to the stars, her eyes misting, a bit of heat melting them as soon as they froze.

"You were there." she said quietly.

"What?" Jeremiah's voice was raised slightly in obvious confusion.

"You were there." She explained. "When the Worldkiller entered me, I could feel myself going away. He was taking over my mind and I felt myself fading away. Then you were there."

Hearing no response she continued. "All I saw was darkness. I could barely hold onto myself. I couldn't feel anything... but then I saw a light. A flashlight. I was in my cave the night you came and found me; the night I ran after Alex became so angry about me breaking my fingers. You came to me that night and told me we could go home, or we could stay there but you would never leave me.

"You were there. I held onto that. Even in my darkest moment, you were my light, reminding me that I still existed and would never be alone. That helped me. It gave me what I needed to fight back, to regain control of myself, long enough to take the action I took.

"It was my family that gave me the desire to stay alive in the sun. I could have given up. I remember some of it. I remember wanting to live so badly and that kept me from dying. I know I don't tell you enough, I never did in the past, but I love you so much. Just don't ever forget it. Everything good I did, you were a part of that, made me the person I was. The bad I did? That was on me."

"Kara..." Jeremiah started to interject but she interrupted him.

"It was. I pushed you away so many times. You tried to help but I lied or ignored your advice, told you I could handle myself. Don't blame yourself for my poor decisions, they are my fault." Kara's tone was earnest, almost pleading as she continued. "Dad, I need for you to be strong for me again. I need to move on from my past, to stop blaming myself and I don't want you to feel regretful. Neither of us can hold onto those feelings or we won't heal… and neither will our family."

Jeremiah said nothing, closing his eyes and fighting off the uncomfortable burning in his chest.

"There was so much I wanted to protect you from." he finally told her.

"You gave me something I never thought I would have as a little girl. You gave me a Dad. That was all I wanted, and you did that for me. The rest? We can't protect everyone we love from everything. As much as I want to protect Clark from every bad thing I have seen in my life, I can't… but that's life, right?"

Jeremiah nodded. "I suppose it is." he admitted regretfully.

"But life can be good. Going forward, our lives will be. I promise. No more lies. I'm going to be Daddy's little girl and follow all his advice from here on out. Sound good?" She grinned somewhat impishly.

Jeremiah laughed as he pulled her into a hug, wanting her close, but also to anchor himself and keep from shooting off towards space again. "Didn't you just say no more lies? You and Alex, you two have always gone your own way… I don't expect that to change."

He smiled as he looked into her eyes. "I love you, Baby. Don't ever leave me again, okay? Not even to save the world."

Kara nodded, greatly comforted holding on to the most important man in her life. "Promise. Want to float over to them? Mom and Alex look like they are having fun. Clark's back is to us, but I know he is smiling, and I hate to miss those."

An hour later the family and team sat around a table, Bruce, Leslie and Lobo having declined the opportunity to fly. J'onn walked from the crystal cells to join them.

"They are still asleep." the Martian told them.

"Can you read any of their minds without their rings?" Alex asked.

J'onn shook his head, frustrated. "The Coluan is blank, everything hidden behind walls even unconscious. I haven't had any more luck with the Daxamite as I have had with Kryptonians. As far as the other, this Garth, I've picked up a bit, but I suspect the electricity his body is constantly generating may be hampering my abilities. He is dreaming, and from what I have seen in the images, it does appear to be a futuristic landscape, but his dreams are mostly about a blonde woman."

Kara snorted. "I know what's that like. Thanks for that, Alex."

Lobo caught that immediately and looked the sisters. "So… when you two did your mind meld thing, you remember what it was like to screw each other's exes? Are you both bisexual now?"

"No!" Kara and Alex shouted.

"Lobo, shut up." Bruce told the man. "What are we going to do?"

The family looked at Clark. In turn, the boy looked at his parents and sisters before taking a deep breath. Quietly, but with confidence in his voice, Clark said, "We are going to try to get Seg El out of the Phantom Zone. If he wants to go with them, he can. If he doesn't, he stays, and we give them the power they need to go back to where they came from."

Kara stood up. "Okay. Kelex, keep their rings and that belt in the vault. Get a grounding cuff for lightning boy and a red solar cuff for the Daxamite, locking them down so they can't be removed except by me. We are going to have to work with them, but we won't be stupid.

"Mom, Dad, Leslie, don't be alone with them without one of us around. I'm going to have a few words with them, bring them back here for the cuffs. Kelex keep a close eye on the Coluan. He doesn't touch our tech. If he needs to do something, either you, Alex or I will do it for him. Any questions?"

Lobo raised his hand.

Kara sighed. "Yes, Lobo?"

"So we aren't hurting them?"

"No."

"Not even a little?"

"Not unless we have to."

"Huh… And you and Alex aren't bisexual now?"

Kara dropped her head. "No, Lobo."

"But you know what that Chase chick looks like naked..."

"Lobo!" Eliza scolded him while Alex and Kara merely rolled their eyes simultaneously.

"Sorry, Mrs. Doctor D. I am just curious about this whole mind meld thing."

"Then be curious when Clark isn't around, understand?"

"Sorry ma'am. Won't happen again." Lobo said, almost contrite enough for Eliza to believe him. Almost.

"Any other questions, dumb, rude or otherwise?" Kara asked.

Bruce nodded. "Alfred is preparing steaks and potatoes. Should be ready in an hour. Should I ask him to prepare three more of each? If we need these three for information, having them pass out from hunger wouldn't be in our best interest right now."

Alex nodded, forgetting that their prisoners hadn't eaten in over a day. "Yeah, probably best we feed them. Like Leslie, we need to keep them healthy until we don't need them anymore."

Leslie shot the finger at a smirking Alex.

Kara rolled her eyes and walked towards the back, around the wall that separated the makeshift detention area from the rest of the Fortress.

She used her heat vision, warming up the small crystal cells until the three jerked awake.

"Good morning. Or afternoon, or night, I guess. Have a nice nap?" she asked brightly.

Brainy shook his head, trying to regain his equilibrium. "You gassed us."

"Yep." Kara said, addressing the Coluan. "So, I've got a couple questions for you. You answer those and maybe we will hear you out and not send you all to an unknown region of the universe. Ready?"

The Coluan nodded his head.

"Good. First question. What enemy is coming that my little brother has to beat?"

Brainy shook his head. "I can't tell you that. Superman wins. If I tell you anything about the situation it could influence your decisions in the future, perhaps changing the outcome."

"How do you know you being here wasn't a part of your timeline and you sharing that information is why he won?"

Brainy looked thoughtful for a moment, then sighed. "We can't take that chance. He is Superman. He wins. The same as you always have."

Kara looked hard at the man, but her mind was racing. Either could make sense in her mind and time travel theories always gave her headaches. "Fine, but you will answer one question, or I activate the Phantom Zone projectors under your feet. What happens to my family?"

The three Legionnaires looked at each other. Lar and Garth shrugged their shoulders, leaving it up to Brainy to answer.

"I don't know." the Coluan admitted. "Since you announced yourself to the world, records of superheroes are well researched but the ordinary humans around them… well, not much is known. In your case, we only knew Supergirl had a partner. We hoped when we arrived in the wrong time period that she might be alive and have access to a power source, but we didn't know for sure. We have been here for weeks, searching. Finding her wasn't easy and required a lot of information not known to the general public in our time."

Lar spoke up, cheekily confirming what his friend was saying. "Yeah, what he means by that is if Brainy wasn't your biggest fan and hadn't researched every speck of information in every archive that exists about your life, we never would have been able to find her."

Brainy looked slightly embarrassed but nodded in agreement with Lar's statement. "He is right. Alex and Kara Danvers are not known in the future. Neither are your parents or Clark Danvers. No one ever found out Supergirl was alive after the battle with the Worldkiller. I will tell you this though… at approximately forty years of age, Superman announced his retirement and was never seen or heard from again. Since that time, other heroes have risen. Every generation has their legends. Now our generation needs help… desperately. That's all I can tell you."

Kara stepped closer to the Coluan's cell. "Okay. Here is the deal. Superman has decided he wants his great-grandfather back. We get him back and you can have your hour to try and convince him to leave with you. If he says no, he stays with us and we will give you the power source you need to go back to your time."

"Understand this… if you ever come back looking for Clark, we will kill you. I don't want to, but my family comes first. You will give your word, all of you, that you will never contact him again once you are gone." Kara stared intently waiting on their agreement, which was quick in coming from all three.

Nodding in acceptance, she continued, "Ok, while you are here, only Brainiac 5 will work in the Fortress with me, Alex or Lobo watching him.

"Lar Gand, you will wear a red sun cuff. Garth Ranzz, you are wearing a special cuff that won't let you play with electricity. You two will stay in Midvale at the hotel with J'onn or Bruce keeping you company.

"We start in the morning, building this tracking device. Once this is done, you are gone and out of our lives forever, got it?"

"Yes." Brainy promised, becoming very excited though he knew Garth and Lar would be less excited without their powers and stuck in the hotel.

Kara replied with an edge of hardness in her tone. "When you go back to your time, don't you ever reveal our identities. I am forced to trust you with this and that is not easy for me to do. It would be easy for other time travelers to come back and find us if we are known. Understand?"

"Yes." Brainy told her.

Kara looked at the other two.

"You have our word." Lar told her. "I realize our planets have a history..."

"And that's what it is. History." Her attention focused solely on the Daxamite Prince, she said sincerely, "For what it's worth, I am sorry about your home. I know... I am sorry."

Lar nodded and smiled. "It wasn't your fault. I guess it was fate."

Kara thought of saying something, but it didn't matter anymore. "You are right. It isn't my fault. Fate can be cruel. Kelex, open the cells."

The crystal in front of the men sank into the floor and they practically fell out.

"Come with me." Kara instructed. "I'll show you to the restroom, and then you can join us. Dinner is soon. After that, you three are going to tell us everything about Brainiac 13 and what he is doing."

The men stretched and followed her. Before Brainy entered the bathroom, he turned to Kara. "Thank you."

"Don't thank me. I just want this done. It's important to me that Seg El is released. I want my little brother to meet the greatest hero in the history of the House of El. That meeting may be what is needed to inspire Superman one day."


	27. Chapter 27

**Do Not Own CW or DC characters**

 **Chapter 27**

"Why are you staring at me?" Kara asked. She was sitting at her personal work bench using a plasma cutter to very carefully shape a crystal to the perfect size required for the tracker… a task that would draw the attention of most observers to the skill of her hands. Instead, she could feel the Coluan's gaze on her back.

Brainy looked away for a moment. "Sorry," he offered, "it's not every day you are able to see a legend in person."

Kara laughed quietly. "So… do you fanboy on any other thousand-year-old dead girls?" she asked.

It was difficult to tell by his green skin, but Kara knew if he could blush he would be. "No... I'm sorry if I am making you uncomfortable. That wasn't my intention. I suppose… well, I've always felt I understood you, or maybe connected to you more than any other hero who has lived."

Kara snorted, wondering what the two could possibly have in common. "If you feel connected to me, you've got some serious issues, Brainy."

The man took a chance, stepping towards her and taking a seat next to her bench. Kara chanced a glance at him but continued working, grinding and cutting, a shower of beautiful sparkles surrounding her. He was mesmerized.

After watching her work for a few minutes, he felt a growing need to explain. He genuinely wanted her to get to know him a little bit inasmuch as he wanted to learn all he could about the woman who was the foundation of all things that defined a 'superhero' in his century. "I know what it means to come from a people, a family you are ashamed of. You had to defeat the rest of your people, your aunt even, to save the world. Now, I am facing the last Coluan beside me… the deadliest one. It isn't easy, is it? I suppose, in a way, I always saw us as kindred spirits."

"But we aren't… and you should be grateful." Kara told him. Releasing the trigger of the plasma cutter, she looked up at him, a thoughtful expression gracing her beautiful face. "Have you ever killed a Coluan?"

Brainy shook his head.

"Have you ever killed anyone?" she asked.

"The Legion's primary objective is to protect all life." he answered truthfully, though somewhat confused at her demeanor.

"That was never mine." Kara pointed out. Sighing, she looked back down and resumed her work. Her skill was once more on display as she continued speaking without hesitating in her crystal sculpting. "I knew when I started this journey I would have to kill… but I never imagined it would become so easy. You see, once you start killing, it is very hard to stop. It becomes easier with every life you take until life becomes very cheap in your mind. You tell yourself you are killing bad guys to protect the innocent, but that line becomes very blurred, very quickly."

Brainy said nothing, taking in her sad voice, but understanding her point a little better now. From history, it was known that Supergirl had addiction and mental health problems. Her announcement of this to the world had taken away a lot of stigma for the people who suffered the same.

Earlier today, he had watched, spellbound, as Alex placed some sort of crystal band over Kara's head for ten minutes. Though he didn't have the bravery to ask, he suspected Alex had been using the crystal technology to manipulate her sister's brainwaves to help combat her assumed depression and anxiety.

The man was not only fascinated seeing the interactions between the two sisters, but he and his partners had their breaths taken away when they were released from their personal crystal prisons and shown the Fortress of Solitude… the very real secret lair of Superman.

He had seen many beautiful places in his trips through the Universe, futuristic landscapes and planets capable of amazing technology, miracles in a way, but he had never seen something this beautiful. It was a mixture of the crystal landscapes that must have belonged to Krypton and advanced technology beyond this time.

He saw empty mannequins in nearly translucent cases that most likely held the various suits Kara and Alex must have worn and he had seen the Holy Grail of all superhero-type artifacts lost to history… the suit that would be worn by Superman one day. It was just waiting for the young man to grow into it.

Lar and Garth, despite their sudden and violent introduction to the Fortress, did not want to leave but Batman and Lobo didn't give them a choice. Brainy had been there for two days now, seen the family unit work together, only leaving to go to the Hotel late at night through the Rann transporter in the basement of the Danvers sisters' home.

As beautiful as the Fortress was, he was also amazed by their home. It was beautiful but simple compared to what he had always imagined. He had studied the house from the outside once they arrived in Midvale, wondering where Alex Danvers was, but seeing the inside himself was a bit surreal.

Kara and Alex's parents lived nearby, only a short walk, and it was obvious the family was close, or Kara would have ever built a house in a small town near the parents who had raised her for all intents and purposes.

Bringing himself out of his musings, he briefly wondered where Alex was. Brainy suspected she was either getting lunch or perhaps in a session with the therapist he had met yesterday. Brainy wasn't sure of her entire name other than Dr. Thompkins. When he had tried to introduce himself, the doctor had said 'go screw yourself' and left abruptly.

The Coluan knew, despite Alex and Kara's parents' absence, he was not alone with Supergirl. Lobo was in his ship parked outside the Fortress, listening to everything and Batman was somewhere, probably in one of the few shadowy parts of the Fortress. If not, he was probably a step from a transporter, prepared to enter the Fortress at a moment's notice.

Brainy wasn't sure why. When he thought through the fact of Supergirl surviving a year in the core of the sun, he understood what she meant by 'pushing the Earth out of orbit' when he met her that night.

She was overpowered and he suspected her family was trying to do something about this.

"Thank you for this." he offered, breaking away from his musings.

Kara briefly turned back to him and then resumed her work. "It isn't done, and I plan to ensure Seg El never goes off with you. So you may not want to thank me. Once I am done with this Phantom Zone projector, it's going to be up to you to develop a tracking system. Then I will do everything I can to convince you to fight your own war."

Brainy shook his head. "I mean thank you for believing us. Even if he doesn't not return with us, you have given us the means to return to our own time. Can I ask, why do you need to build a new Phantom Zone projector?"

Kara absently answered as she was concentrating mostly on her precision cutting. "The one we made for Indigo is too small for someone to enter. We counted on her going into the box herself."

"And the ones under our cells?" he asked. "The blue crystal lights… they could have fit any of us."

Kara pulled back from her work as his words registered, looked back at the startled Coluan and laughed… the first genuine laugh she had since he had been in the Fortress with her. She was still grinning as she explained, "Those weren't Phantom Zone projectors. They were just blue lights. I didn't need actual Phantom Projectors… I just had to make you believe they were."

Brainy was stunned momentarily before he too started laughing. It was true, she had sold it, and he never doubted that he and his friends had Projectors under their feet.

A fleeting look of melancholy crossed her face as her laughter died off and she turned back to her project. "I'm a very good liar... at least I used to be."

"Well, it appears you are still very good. I bought it. I am usually good at detecting lies... Supergirl, are you okay?" he asked, realizing he was detecting sadness in her tone.

Kara nodded her head, her back still too him. "I only lied to you because I had to. I don't want to lie anymore… to anyone. Unfortunately, there are lies I will have to tell. I've lived lies my entire life, and as far as the world is concerned, I will continue to do so. The people who matter know the truth about me. As far as thanks, if you really want to thank me there is a simple way."

"Anything you want." he assured her quickly.

Kara turned towards him and smiled. "You really do have it bad. Seriously… are there any other thousand-year-old dead chicks you have a thing for?"

It was the Coluan's turn to look away from the amused look on her face. "No. Like I said, I just felt like we had somewhat of a connection. So… how can I repay you for your kindness?"

Her expression turned serious. "You were explaining to us that there were statues of Supergirl and Superman in front of your headquarters... that we served as the inspiration for your 'Legion of Superheroes'. But you don't understand who Supergirl was and I want to rectify that.

"Knock that statue of me down and build another one… one of me and my sister standing together."

Brainy had not been expecting that. Although he was a twelfth level intellect, he didn't really understand what she was asking him to do. Wanting to be precise, he probed a little, offering suggestions. "We could build a statue of her next to yours. What moniker would she like? She has a couple known to history. Also, which suit do you think she would want since she has more than one?"

Kara shook her head. "No. Make it as she is, as you see her now, standing next to me. As far as monikers, just put a plaque on the front that says 'Supergirl'. She was as much Supergirl as I was. In fact, without her, there never would have been a Supergirl, much less a Superman. Supergirl was just a title, created by Cat Grant… but together, we were the ones who made her real."

Kara was quiet a moment seemingly lost in thought. "When I arrived on this planet, I was a scared kid on a new world who didn't speak the language. On top of that, I had a baby to look after with hardly any supplies. I was also chased by the government, minutes after I arrived. It was a stressful time to say the least.

"I ran until I could run no more… I was forced to stop because there was literally no more land. I stopped running right where my house now sits. I found a small cave and hoped it would give me a good enough hiding spot for a few days to collect myself, to consider the best plan of action even though I didn't even have a worst plan of action." A dreamy look broke over Kara's face as she smiled. "That's where she found me."

Brainy listened intently. Everyone in the Universe knew that Supergirl and Superman were raised by humans, both from Lois Lane's comprehensive books depicting the story of the two and Kara's own press conference when she announced her mental health and substance abuse issues. He had met her parents and the others she called family, namely Lobo, J'onn and Batman, though he wasn't sure about who the woman was that told him to 'go screw himself.'

"She found you in a cave?" he asked in wonder.

Kara nodded. "I wasn't paying attention, lost in my thoughts and she saw me entering the cave. She should have been scared, but she wasn't. Instead, she was… kind and she didn't tell anyone about me.

"She didn't even understand me... I mean, I couldn't speak English and she obviously couldn't speak Kryptonese, but we communicated with each other in our own way. She brought me food, everything I needed for the night. She came the next morning just as I woke up from a nightmare and my heat vision exploded. Do you know what she did?"

"Ran?" Brainy guessed thinking that was what any reasonable person would do.

Kara shook her head, a soft look on her face. "She grabbed me from behind and began talking to me, helping me calm down. Eventually... she gave me her bed, her room, her birthday, her family… just… her everything. She even taught me the hard way not to drink ocean water. She slept with me when I cried at night, she was there when I woke up from nightmares. If it weren't for her, things would have gone very differently in my life.

"When I realized... when I understood that one day, I would have to fight my people to protect humans from them, the two of us began to train. We were trained by some very dangerous men. I worked hard to perfect my powers, my flight, speed, heat vision. There were so many times I wanted to give up. But Alex… she trained harder so that she could watch my back… so she could somehow join me in fighting against Kryptonians.

"I would get headaches from the stress of using my heat vision too often, I would get frustrated knocking down trees while trying to navigate sharp turns. Alex though, when she trained, it hurt. She learned so many skills, things no 14-year-old should have to learn. She did it with a human body. She never admitted it, but I knew she hurt. She constantly had bruises, cuts, her hands ached when she began learning to fire a gun, her knuckles stayed scraped. She played soccer in school and still never missed a training session. She went through hell to be by my side and keep me from losing myself to my own darkness. She even held me for days from behind when I went through withdrawals because she knew I was afraid of restraints."

Brainy shook his head. He had always relied on his mind, his intellect. He could fight but never had that level of combat training. He understood what Kara was saying but he never heard it described that way. The pain this human girl must have gone through because of a deep love and unwavering loyalty to someone she owed nothing to.

"That's amazing." He said, truly awed by what she told him.

Kara nodded. "I only took the red ring during the fight with Doomsday because I thought he killed her. Afterward, on the way back from Ysmault, she cleaned me up even though I was soaked in blood from head to toe. Another thing for your history books… she single-handedly killed a Worldkiller and nearly died herself.

"So yeah, put up a statue of both of us and just let it be called Supergirl because we both were. Everything good I ever did… it came from her being my sister."

"I promise, I will see it done personally." he said, his heart touched by all she had told him before another thought occurred to him. "Of course Legion headquarters may be destroyed by Brainiac so it could be a moot point."

Kara snorted. "You said every generation had its legends. I have no doubt with or without Seg, your heroes will win. Okay... I have some doubt. "

Despite the seriousness of the situation Brainy found himself softly laughing along with her. Then he realized something. "You want to die, don't you?"

Kara stiffened. She set the plasma torch down and turned, giving him all her attention. "I'm guessing that wasn't a threat. You're a Coluan so you have to be smarter than that."

Brainy held up his hands. "I didn't mean that. I just mean..."

"If I wanted to die, I would have given up in the sun. I want to live." Kara said a little more forcefully.

Brainy shook his head. "That's not what I meant. The red lights in here… you are trying to depower, to somehow live without your powers. You want to grow old, die."

Kara relaxed at his words and shrugged her shoulders. "You really want to see a superpowered woman mad with grief and anger flying around the Universe? I don't want to live forever without my family, knowing it could be thousands of years if I ever saw them again. So yeah, I've lived without my powers before and in a couple weeks I will be done with them again.

"What about you? Coluans are immortal, aren't they? Do you want to see all your teammates die while you live forever?"

Brainy felt a chill at the thought. He had never really considered it before. "I age much slower, but I am not immortal. The average Coluan lived for 500 years. Of course, Indigo allowed herself to be assimilated with technology that broke her body into bits of data, and Brainiac has remained alive for a millennium because he has modified his body with technology he has recovered, making him more machine than man. But I understand what you are saying. You want to live naturally and die naturally…"

Kara turned her back to the Coluan once again and made a few adjustments to the crystal. "Okay, it's the right size. Alex will have to engineer the crystal to do what we need it to do."

"You cannot do so yourself?" Brainy asked, greatly surprised.

Kara shook her head. "I never had to. Alex unlocked the secrets of these damn things. She can work miracles with them. I have always been responsible for engineering projects… making weapons, her jet, her suits. I never needed any crystals for those. Alex, however, needed crystals to help me so, of course, she became an expert. I've recently been inside her head, so I have the knowledge but it's best if we both stick to our expertise."

The Coluan's brow crinkled in confusion. "Inside her..."

"Long story, don't ask, shouldn't have mentioned it, it's none of your business." Kara cut him off before he could say anything else.

The hum of the transporter told them Alex had arrived. She walked over quickly, almost at a run.

"Everything okay?" the brunette asked, looking at Kara and ignoring Brainy.

Kara smiled at her. "Of course. Like a non-modified Coluan can take me? How was... what you needed to do?" she finished, talking about her session with Leslie.

"Like usual." Alex told her.

"So, not good?" Kara guessed.

"It was good." Alex assured her. "Lobo called saying he needed a nap and that you have the crystal cut. I need a fresh DNA sample from you and your green pal needs to go back to the hotel."

She finally turned and acknowledged the Coluan's presence. "Batman will be waiting for you in our basement, so don't get any ideas about checking Kara's room for whatever freaks like you look for, Brainiac Lite."

"Alex?" Kara asked, confused by her tone.

"Have you seen the way he looks at you? Take your eyes off of him and a pair of your panties could wind up a thousand years in the future." Alex explained.

Kara admitted Alex had a good point. He had been making her a bit uncomfortable.

Brainy stood up and raised his hands. "I am a great admirer of you both, but I would not..."

"You're obsessed with my sister." Alex pointed out. "You aren't the first and it never ends well… for anyone. Keep your eyes off her. We are interrupting our lives and doing a job so you can get back to your own time. Stop perving or I might let my little brother know if I don't decide to deal with you myself."

Brainy stood up as Kelex came walking towards him to escort him out of the room. The girls got the idea that Kelex was not a fan of a Coluan. He returned shortly to the sisters as they were examining the projector plans.

Alex shook her head. "Kelex, how is this going to work? I know this crystal is a beacon, something Kryptonian DNA should be drawn to but I know a Phantom Zone projector can easily be opened from the inside to let other creatures out. He swears it will happen quickly enough that Seg will be drawn out. What about you? What do you think?"

Kelex shook his head. "We listen to his full plan and I will tell you if it is feasible, but you are right. We cannot risk letting any unknowns out of the Phantom Zone especially into the Fortress. Has he explained the process?"

Kara looked at Alex who explained what Brainy had told her. "All he has said is he needs to enter the Phantom Zone to track him and bring him back."

Kara did not like that idea but let it go for now. "Fine, let's make the Phantom Zone projector, we finish the beacon and we set a window of five seconds. If Brainiac Jr. does not come out with or without Seg in that time, we close the projector." she suggested.

"Right after we throw the other two in it." Alex added.

Kara looked sharply at her sister who remained unapologetic. "You said you couldn't send the Daxamite to the Phantom Zone. You never said I couldn't. Not that I would ask your permission, little sis. I make the rules, remember?"

Kara smiled fondly. "Since the day those adoption papers were signed. How could I forget? Let's finish up these projects and bring little Green into the Fortress in the morning. Lobo can keep a gun pressed to his head if he doesn't behave around the toys. He doesn't touch them, no matter what."

The two girls and Kelex began to work again, fine tuning a larger device they had made in what seemed like another lifetime.

They worked in silence, but it was a comfortable silence, with no tension. Despite the various scenarios that could play out, the many ways things could go wrong, neither were worried. They had faced worse situations and always came out on top sooner or later.

While the three worked together and Eliza prepared food for her immediate and extended family, Clark sat on the beach with Lana, watching the sun set over the water.

"This view never gets old." Clark said.

Usually this was the point Lana would complain how boring the town was and how she would rather be seeing the lights of a Metropolis skyline.

Instead, he heard nothing from his usually talkative girlfriend. "Lana? You're quiet tonight. Something wrong?"

Lana smiled and lifted her head, staring at the sky. "I was watching this video on the net. That guy from Metropolis running for senator or governor or… something, he had this debate thing. I guess the guy he was running against was slamming aliens. Anyway, this guy started talking about the Invasion. I guess I never really thought about how close we came to losing the whole planet before."

Clark was surprised. He was the one who was personally affected by it. To his friends, it seemed like some Sci Fi movie that stories were told about that got larger and grander as time went by. "Politicians have been arguing for over a year now. Why is this a big deal to you all of the sudden? I didn't know you bothered to listen to stuff like that."

Lana looked sharply at Clark. "I'm not stupid. I know you think I'm an airhead and maybe I don't get perfect grades like you, but I do have a brain. I think about things all the time."

Clark thought of arguing that wasn't what he meant but let it go with a simple 'sorry'.

The two sat in silence a few minutes more as the stars shined brighter in the sky.

"So what did this guy say that bothered you so much?" he asked to break the chilly silence.

She looked thoughtful as she continued to watch the sky. "He pointed out that the invasion was over so quick because of Supergirl. The Justice League struggled with just one of those monsters in Metropolis but Supergirl took out that monster lady in National City and then defeated like the whole fleet of star destroyers or whatever was up there. If she wasn't there, if she hadn't sacrificed herself to kill that lizard king, they would have landed and humans could have been at war for years, and probably lost. I turned it off and walked into the living room. My Dad was watching the news."

Lana paused for a moment and took a breath. "There was an Earthquake in National City this morning. A bridge collapsed… a bus fell off it and a bunch of other cars. I guess it just hit me."

"That Supergirl is gone?" Clark guessed.

"Not just that but everything could be gone. We know there are aliens on Earth. There are some good guys and there are some bad guys but what is going to happen the next time some space army attacks? Nobody had to worry about it before. Supergirl took care of it. But now? I guess I realized the future is scarier than I thought. No matter what we do, the world could end someday just because some alien army wants our planet. That guy was right. Even the Justice League is gone now. Humans don't really have a chance when it happens again."

Clark was surprised to see a tear drop run down her cheek. Lana wiped it away and smiled. "I guess I'm just being dumb. Teenage angst and all that. I usually leave that department to you but today for some reason... seeing that bus fall off that bridge, it hit me. One day, if I have kids, maybe I can tell them about the time I grew up in, the time nobody had to worry about the world falling apart because Supergirl kept it together. It was nice while it lasted, huh?"

Clark sat quietly, taking it in. Lana was usually not one to think deeply about things. Clark could understand. After all, he hadn't known there was an Earthquake in National City.

"How many died?" he asked quietly.

Lana shrugged her shoulders. "A lot. It was bad. Never live on the West Coast, right?"

Clark shook his head slightly; glad Kara had sworn off the news. She really didn't need to see that.

The boy took her hand gently. "Maybe you shouldn't give up. Hope is always out there; you just have to find it. My Dad's been telling me that a lot this past year. I'm not sure he believed it, but my sister Alex, she is a big believer in hope. She believed so strongly... just don't give up. Maybe there is hope for this planet. Who knows, some other superhero might show up."

Lana laughed quietly and squeezed his hand. "You think somebody could be as strong as the Girl of Steel?"

Clark nodded. "Maybe. Maybe one day there will be a Man of Steel."

"I hope he is on our side." Lana said quietly. "What about you, Clark? You have the tall, dark and brooding look. You would look good in blue tights. Are you going to be man… or steel?"

Clark smiled at her. Lana could be annoying at times, but he did love her humor. "I guess I will have to figure it out one day. Probably not the best time to ask since you are worried about space invaders but Kara and my Dad usually star gaze in about an hour. Want to beat them to the telescope? I have a pretty good knowledge of the stars."

Lana stood up and offered her hand to him. "Clark Danvers asking me to stargaze with him. Who knew you could be romantic? Let's go. Show me the Universe."

 **Fortress of Solitude, the next morning**

"You looked really cute last night. I've never heard you giggle before." Kara's eyes held such mischievousness that Clark rolled his.

"Leave it, Kara." Clark told her.

"Pointing out the constellations to Lana, holding hands, letting her look after you secured the perfect view. You are such a player, Clark. I don't know if I should be proud or concerned. I'm going to stick with proud." Kara decided.

"Don't you and Alex have some big science project with your stalker from the future this morning?" Clark asked petulantly.

Kara punched him in the shoulder. "Come on, he's not that bad."

Clark looked at her in disbelief. "He's a Coluan… who hangs out with a Daxamite. Are you falling for him? Does he have a black or red spandex suit I don't know about?"

Kara raised an eyebrow, surprised at how bold her brother was this morning. "Wow, he actually acts like a boyfriend one night and now is mister confident. Maybe you shouldn't be here this morning. It might get a little dangerous. I would hate to see the Boy of Steel get hurt. There are going to be red lights on."

Clark shook his head, irritated at her ribbing. "Yeah, I think I'll stay. When you get that crystal inside you, I am going to toss you around in the ocean. I won't need powers to do it. Just because you're hopped up on sunbeams now doesn't mean you will be for long."

Kara crossed her arms and smirked. "Clark, I'm an expert at five different styles of martial arts and a former member of the League of Assassins."

Clark thought for a moment then shrugged his shoulders. "Fine, I'll need my powers. Still gonna toss you into the water."

Kara laughed but soon donned a serious face hearing the transporter activating. She walked over to Alex and her parents and watched the Coluan being brought in by Batman with J'onn and Lobo following closely behind him.

"Good morning..." Brainy started.

"Morning… now tell us how to make the final piece." Alex cut off his greeting. "I'm ready to send you back to the future, McFly."

Brainy looked at Alex, not sure why she called him that particular name but considering how many she had referred to him by already, he decided an explanation wasn't worth asking for.

"You have already made the final piece. That would be the DNA seeker. It will act as a rope if you will. As I go in, one end of the line will take me to Seg El while the other stays at this moment in Fortress connected to Supergirl's DNA. I will be back in 2.4 seconds." he explained.

Alex shook her head. "Wait a minute. You are using one Kryptonian to anchor to another? I thought this was just to find Seg El. How do I know you won't pull her in."

"First, it isn't a physical link, simply a path of light to follow. She isn't an anchor; she is a homing beacon. Secondly, what possible motive would I have to bring her into the Phantom Zone with me?" Brainy asked.

Kara ignored his question, fixated on something else he had said. "You are telling me that when you enter the Phantom Zone, it will only take you 2.4 seconds to find him and bring him out?" she asked him.

"No, of course not. I'm not sure how long I will be in there." Brainy said as he attempted to explain. "Time has no meaning in the Phantom Zone. But when we exit from the projector we should return to this spot 2.4 seconds from the time I enter. Any longer and you should close the portal. We cannot take the chance of anything getting out and that is the safest amount of time I can guarantee."

Kara stepped up to the Coluan and grabbed him by his collar jerking him up on his feet. "I agreed to give you one hour to talk to him. It's now apparent to me that you can have as much time as you want… years, centuries even. You could tell him that you won't let him out if he doesn't agree to help you. That wasn't part of the deal."

Brainy began to panic, seeing her teeth clench and a glow growing in her eyes, one he hadn't seen since the first night in the Fortress after their arrest. "I won't do that. You are going to have to trust me!"

"Look around you!" She screamed. "The people in this room, I trust. You, I don't know. I don't understand what I did in my career that makes people in the future think I'm stupid but I'm not. You're a Coluan, you plan for every contingency! Are you going to look me in the eye and tell me you didn't plan to make some pitch to him when you found him? I should kill you now!"

"Kara!" Alex yelled, placing her hands on her sister's shoulders. "Calm down. Put him down and let Lobo handle him. It's okay."

Kara's eyes turned back to blue and she dropped the man, who crumpled to the floor.

"Sorry." Kara whispered to Alex, the two lost for a moment in their own little bubble.

Alex smiled, rubbing her sister's back to help her settle down. "It's always going to be there. We just have to control it. It's okay, sweetie. I want to beat him too, but it won't solve our problem."

Looking at the others in the room, Alex said, "We have a decision to make. None of us are going into the Phantom Zone to get him out. With this new information, we're not letting him go so we need to talk about what we do now."

"I'll go." Batman told the girls. "I can find him and bring him back."

"No one is going in there that I love!" Kara told him fiercely. Pointing to Lobo and J'onn she said, "Don't even think about it you two."

Alex was still rubbing Kara's back to keep her calm, the rest of the group was taking a collective breath to compose themselves and Brainy was laying on the ground hoping not to be killed by anyone, when the Phantom Zone Projector suddenly opened.

It happened so quickly not even Kara could comprehend what was happening fast enough to stop it.

Kelex had taken the crystal and walked into the Phantom Zone. Two heartbeats later he walked out, holding a familiar looking man around the shoulders.

The Projector turned off and Kelex placed the crystal on the ground, using his foot to shatter it.

"I'm not going to apologize. I was never going to let any of you go." The AI told the stunned group. Only the hum of the Fortress could be heard in the silence that followed. After a few moments, Kelex formally introduced his new companion. "May I present to you, Seg El. I taught him English while I was in the Phantom Zone, caught him up to date on all the news: Krypton, his children, grandchildren and his heroic great-grandchildren."

The dark-haired man took in the ones before him. He appeared worn, tired but his eyes were bright.

"Clark." he whispered. Then his eyes turned to Kara.

"You look so much like Nyssa." he told her walking slowly towards her then stopped.

The three Kryptonians stood silently, close to each other but not moving, not sure what to do.

Alex solved the problem when she pulled Seg into a hug. "Welcome to the Danvers family."

The man laughed in surprise but hugged her back, she backed away and he opened his arms towards his great-grandchildren. They both grabbed hold, Kara trying not to squeeze too tightly due to the red lights that flooded the Fortress.

"It's good to meet you." Kara told him, backing up.

Seg took in the gathered people. "So… I understand we have a collection of heroes here. And a Coluan."

The man looked at Kara once more. _"From what your Kelex has told me, you definitely have Nyssa's spirit_."

Kara grinned almost shyly as she replied, nodding towards Clark, " _And he has yours._ "

"Eliza and Jeremiah?" he said, catching their eyes. The two walked up to him and offered their hands. Seg took them both. "Thank you for loving and protecting my family."

"Thank you for protecting them first." Eliza said sincerely, obviously awed at the surreal events.

Seg looked back at Alex, smiling. "I understand I have two great-granddaughters. That's going to take some getting used to. I still think I'm 27. I am 27. Right? I don't look old, do I?"

The general laughter around the room further eased the tense atmosphere.

He looked around and nodded towards J'onn J'onzz and stopped at Batman. Looking at Kara and Alex he said, " _Kelex wasn't joking. He does dress like a bat."_

Then he saw Lobo.

"Who are you?" he asked, concern in his eyes.

"Name's Lobo."

Seg turned quickly to Kelex. "That's Kara's husband?!"

Kelex shook his head, ignoring the collective groan that erupted from the group and the shout of outrage coming from Jeremiah. "Just thought I would have a little 'welcome back from the Phantom Zone' prank when we arrived."

"So… not Kara's husband." Seg looked relieved while Lobo was mumbling under his breath. Kara started laughing, seeing as she was the only one who could actually hear the big guy, thanking Rao her father couldn't hear him.

Seg turned back towards the Czarnian and looked up at him. "But you were the one who borrowed a Zeta Beam to retrieve Kara from Ysmault, right?"

Kara looked sharply at Kelex. "How much did you tell him?" she asked.

Kelex raised his arms. "Just the basics... you know, House of El drama, Krypton being gone, Myriad, crime fighting, Doomsday, red ring, mass slaughter of White Martians, Worldkillers… which led to more House of El drama, coming back from the sun, that sort of thing. I thought it best I get it all out of the way."

Seg held up his hands. "Can we hold on for a moment? I promise we will get to that. I've already had an emotional breakdown over what I learned from Kelex and am doing much better now. Lobo, who did you get the Zeta Beam from?"

"A little thief from Earth who stole it from Rann. He owed me for saving his ass getting him out of there and..." Lobo said.

"Adam Strange?" Seg cut in.

"Yeah, that's him." Lobo answered, surprised.

Seg smiled and patted Lobo on the chest. "Could someone get that bastard on the line and tell him to get over here, wherever we are located on this planet? Oh and you, Coluan… hiding on the floor. You are going to tell me everything about Brainiac 13. I have some unfinished business with that asshole."


	28. Chapter 28

**A/N The end of this trilogy is near. Only three chapters left. For those who are interested Asgardian Blade and I started a new story called The Life Equation. It is a very different tone than this series . More of a romance adventure kind of story with some funny moments thrown in. We posted the first chapter Sunday and will be posting every Sunday for the next few months at least. I hope you will all check it out.**

 **Do not own CW or DC characters**

 **Chapter 28**

"Why is everyone standing around?" Seg asked. The entire room was still, even the Coluan stayed on the ground, unmoving.

"Perhaps we should relax and talk for a bit?" Kelex suggested.

Seg looked at him sharply. "Brainiac has escaped. He is destroying planets. I need to stop him. You said I would have some kind of enhanced powers to help me. I need to learn to use these powers and..."

"Brainiac won't be a threat for another thousand years." Kelex interrupted. Seeing he had the newly freed Kryptonian's attention, he explained. "If you want to fight him again so badly you may return with the time travelers to their time regardless of how long you stay here. Or perhaps you should give more than a few seconds thought to fighting the Coluan at all and getting your ass kicked again."

Seg shook his head and looked around the room before turning back to the AI. "I did not get my ass kicked." the man whispered through clenched teeth.

"Then why did I have to pull you out of the Phantom Zone while your enemy has been running free around the Universe? Because you won? What happens when you actually do get your ass kicked?" Kelex asked pointedly.

Seg at least looked a bit embarrassed. "I admit things could have gone better. If you would just get in touch with Adam..."

"I will not contact this Adam Strange nor bring him to our location, either here or the residences. These places are secret for a reason, and I do not know this man. We will talk about this as a family. Our family. You are, of course, free to travel the Earth and find him on your own. Good luck with that." Kelex told him.

The rest of the family stood by, glancing at each other, not sure what to say and silently agreeing to let Kelex handle this.

Seg shook his head, wondering what the hell was going on. This Kelex unit had obviously been modified judging by his size and limbs but he was still a Kelex. The robot had acted no different in the Phantom Zone, explaining all that had happened since Seg had been trapped at the Kryptonian's request. "You serve this Fortress, do you not? You told me you protect the Fortress. Shouldn't you have to do what the House of..."

Kelex noticeably sighed, interrupting yet again. "I protect this family and the Fortress because I want to. I belong to no one, not any longer. I was released from my restrictive programming by Kara Danvers. Alex Danvers is in command of the Fortress; you are under red lights and if you don't calm down and stop being an ass, I will soundly beat you until you listen to reason."

Seg stared dumbfounded at the robot, his whole body frozen in shock. Looking around, he noticed no one was moving or saying anything to contradict the Kelex. In fact, the smiles on the faces around him suggested they agreed with the robot so he felt his best recourse was to stand down until he could better understand his new reality. Slowly, he forced himself to relax and nodded his head. "Ok, let's take a step back and calm down. Not that I am afraid of you. Because I'm not. You do make good points, but you were also a lot nicer in the Phantom Zone. Could we go back to that nice back and forth we had there?"

"Could you talk to your last blood bonds before you make a hasty decision to leave them and fight a battle that may not be yours to fight any longer? Let them fully explain the situation?" Kelex asked.

Seg stood up straight and looked intently at Kelex. "I believe that is reasonable. Sorry, all. Got a little ahead of myself. So... what's next?"

Kara and Alex looked at each other, not sure what to do. Then as one, they looked towards Kelex.

"You seem to be doing a great job, buddy." Kara commented, smiling proudly at Kelex. "Before I yell at you for hours for your stunt, you wanna keep this party rolling?"

Kelex nodded, pleased with her trust in his handling of the situation. "I was hoping you would ask. Batman would you and J'onn please take the Coluan back to the hotel. Lobo... I don't really care what you do. Find something to entertain yourself. Seg, you will accompany the Danvers to Eliza and Jeremiah's residence. I have a red sunlight bracelet prepared for you. It will be essential because once you begin metabolizing yellow sunlight, you will experience a severe sensory overload that could lead to bouts of uncontrolled heat vision and an inability to control your strength. If this happens, Kara will have to take you down and for… reasons, … I would like to avoid that. Eliza, Jeremiah… after I finished Seg's English lessons in the Phantom Zone, I told him about various foods. He seemed most interested in Chinese food. Perhaps we could order takeout."

Jeremiah nodded his agreement. Kelex's plan was better than any they had come up with. The focus had been on getting Seg out. What to do with him afterward was not something a lot of thought was put into.

"Wait," Brainy spoke up. "I was told I could have an hour..."

"And you planned on taking as much time as you needed in the Phantom Zone." Kara reminded him. "You will get your hour, but not until I say so. You," she pointed to Seg. "are not going anywhere. It took me years to master the powers we have. It has taken Clark years to grow into them and he still has a long way to go."

"By the way, nice to see you too, great-grandpa. Glad you could say 'hi' before hopping off to the future. Seriously?" To say Kara was irate would be an understatement.

Seg crossed his arms and looked down at the floor, not meeting the glare that reminded him way too much of Nyssa when she was not happy. It was a bit chilling… in fact the chill was progressing down his spine as he thought on it. Clearing his throat, he said, "I apologize. That was a dick move… did I get that right, Kelex?"

"Absolute dick move. Excellent use of slang." the AI nodded in approval.

Looking back at his irritated great-granddaughter and shaking his head at the similarity of the look on her face to the one her great-grandmother sported too often, he said, "I am sorry, I am glad to see you; I appreciate what you have done... perhaps I could take some time to..."

"Can I just say..." Brainy started before Lobo hit him in the jaw, sending him to the floor unconscious.

The big man shrugged his shoulders, unapologetic. "What? He annoys me. Guess he wasn't smart enough to see that coming. You guys have fun and get me twelve orders of orange chicken and fried rice. Throw in a dozen egg rolls with duck sauce for an appetizer. Bat's will pay."

At the house, Kara couldn't help but be reminded of her first dinner with her family. The six sat around a table in silence, no one but Seg really eating despite being stared at as if he were from another planet… which he was. Kelex stood in the back, somehow having picked up the habit of crossing his arms and watched Seg carefully.

Once the man had finished, Seg took a sheepish glance at the Danvers. "Wow. I had forgotten how satisfying eating was. So... thank you for helping me escape the Phantom Zone..."

"Helping you?" Alex asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Or, getting me out of the Phantom Zone. I do apologize for my abruptness when I returned. The thought of Brainiac... taking him to the Zone and being unable to keep him there while I stayed, trapped, took over my thoughts. To be honest, it was easier to deal with than everything I had learned about my son and grandsons destroying the home I gave up my life to protect. I suppose it was easier to focus on..." his voice trailed off as he looked away.

"Revenge?" Clark guessed; his unease apparent to his family.

Seg turned back to see a strange look on his great-grandson's face. "That's a strong word. I think of it as more… returning the favor. Kara, Alex... Kelex told me in detail what you have both gone through. I know the things I'm not supposed to mention... alcohol, drugs, rage, suicide attempts, clinical depression, bad relationships, what were the other ones, Kelex?"

Kelex dropped his head. While Seg retained the inherent bravery that had been a trademark of the House of El throughout eons, he had somehow missed the intelligence.

Seeing he was going to get no help from Kelex, he shrugged his shoulders. "Those are all I can remember right now so if I do say something that is a touchy subject I apologize in advance. I mean no harm. I am deeply sorry for the trouble my blood has caused but I'm proud that two strong warriors made their way to such an amazing family on this planet."

No one said anything, an awkward silence once again falling in the room until Clark opened his mouth. "So… were Jor El and Zor El just one offs or does the House of El have a history of genocidal..."

Alex slapped her hand quickly over Clark's mouth.

Seg caught the meaning regardless. "Honestly, our House has a proud tradition. I loved Nyssa very much, but I am fairly certain that even she would admit our son and grandsons took after her father. Vex blood and all.

"Nyssa was the first person ever born into House Vex who wasn't a manipulative, slimy... I'm trying to think of English words to describe what they were like. Daron Vex, her father, tried to broker a deal with Brainiac, aided him in spreading his drones over our City, all because Brainiac promised him the rule of Krypton once he had what he wanted. Of course, Brainiac had no intention on following through, but Daron was too stupid to know that. The man craved power and would sink to any depths to get it."

Clark took that in, not feeling any better. He was beginning to realize that perhaps every family had their own dark secrets.

"What happened to him?" the boy asked quietly.

Seg sat back and looked around the table. Everyone was staring at him, but no one seemed inclined to stop him from answering. "That was a strange story. Nyssa found out about her father's plans and he had her arrested and confined to her quarters on a trumped up charge. A friend of mine, Lyta Zod, informed me..."

"Dru Zod's great-grandmother?" Kara interrupted. "You were friends with her?"

The table detected an actual blush on Seg's cheeks. "When we were younger... yes, we were... close friends." he finally said quietly, looking at the tabletop. Kara shook her head and closed her eyes.

"Regardless," Seg continued, "the outside of Nyssa's room was covered with guards, the entire compound was. I used a skimmer to get as close as possible and scaled the walls of her compound to her room. I was too late to do anything though. Daron Vex had entered her room with the intent to kill her himself. I jumped through the window just as Nyssa disarmed the idiot easily and placed the gun to his head."

"She killed him." Clark guessed.

"No... not really... not... you see I convinced her that the only way we could get out of the compound was to use him as a hostage. It was a brilliant plan in my opinion. We walked out with him in front of us... then Nyssa shot him... in the head. I picked up his body and used it as a shield while she fired her weapon and we somehow made it out of that hell in one piece."

"Huh… so that's where Kara gets it from." Clark said, before Alex could clamp her hand over his mouth once again.

"Okay." Jeremiah stopped him. "We get the idea. Probably not time for reminiscing over Krypton. Seg, are you tired?"

Seg thought for a moment. "Surprisingly, yes. I haven't slept in decades. I'm not sure I will remember how... is Krypton... can it still be seen from this planet or... is Rao still..."

"Yes." Kara told him. "It can be seen. I haven't looked in a very long time."

"Why not?" Seg asked.

"Because I don't care anymore. I'm standing on my home planet. Clark knows how to find it." Kara answered. Looking to her brother, she said, "Why don't you and Dad show Seg Rao, Clark?"

As the father and son stood and led Seg outside, Kara went to her old room, Alex following in her footsteps.

Kara stood in the middle of the room, saying nothing. Alex pulled her into a hug, but the girl remained nearly emotionless, like a stone.

"Hey," Alex implored her softly, "talk to me."

"He's an asshole looking for a fight. He kind of reminds me of me. Nyssa Vex El definitely reminds me of me. Shooting her father in the head... yeah, the parallels between me and Zor El are a bit chilling." Kara said softly.

Alex could feel the tension in her little sister, even as Kara remained perfectly still so as not to hurt her. They stayed still for several moments before Kara relaxed into her and said, "Let's go out on the roof. We haven't been out there in a long time."

Alex, happy that Kara wasn't pushing her away, followed the blonde quietly. The two sat on the edge, looking down on Clark, Seg and Jeremiah, the father and son pointing out various constellations. Though Clark never had the love for stargazing that Jeremiah and Kara shared, the boy had picked up a thing or two over the years from his father.

"Leslie is coming up." Kara whispered. "Her heart sounds good considering what she has been through lately."

Alex nodded in agreement. "She's as tough as old leather. Has the personality of old leather too."

The observation had them both laughing, lightening the mood, even as Alex heard Leslie stepping onto the roof, her joints cracking as she slipped out the window.

"You two couldn't have stayed in your room?" she grumbled before having a seat next to the sisters.

Kara snickered softly at the disgruntled woman. "Alex and I have spent many hours out here. It's kind of our place. If only this roof could talk, it would tell you many funny and disturbing stories. I thought you would be in bed already."

Leslie huffed, then sighed. "Kara, Kelex told me what was said. How did you think this was going to go?"

Kara shook her head slightly knowing exactly what Leslie was talking about. "I didn't think he would jump out of the Phantom Zone and want to rush off to the future with people he doesn't know… not that he knows us, but I thought maybe he would want to know us, to be a part of our..."

Kara hesitated.

"A part of your family." Leslie finished knowingly. "He isn't… and he never will be."

"He is..." Kara started.

"He is what? Blood? Since when does blood matter to you?" Leslie stopped her, wanting her to see the obvious. "I've known you two for quite some time. I know all your secrets, all your fears, all your hopes. Yet, I'm still an outsider. If Bruce hadn't found out you were alive on his own, I would have told you not to tell him or J'onn and you wouldn't have. They are close friends, but they aren't part of you. The five of you... six I should say when the annoying robot is taken into consideration... you aren't easy to become a part of. Despite knowing a lot about this family, probably more than anyone except you six, I would never consider myself a part of it. Jessica Ryan never did. All of them knew they were outsiders."

Kara shook her head in disagreement. "Bruce and J'onn are family."

"Like Connolly and Jessica Ryan, Dante maybe? They were always outsiders. The six of you have been through hell more times than is worth counting, and this last year stretched this family to the breaking point but you are still together. Seg was never going to be a part of that." Leslie countered.

"Lobo's family." Kara argued. "I planned to tell him I was alive."

Leslie waved that off. "Only because if he weren't so damn big and ugly you would have probably married him years ago."

With more patience than she usually showed, Leslie continued. "Kara, your 27-year-old great-grandfather was never going to be your roommate, have a normal life or even close to one. He will never fit in. A part of you had to have suspected he would go."

Kara looked at Alex, seeing the understanding in her sister's eyes and took her hand. "I guess a part of me was hoping he would at least consider staying. You know, think about it, pretend it was a tough decision before running off with people we don't really know, to fight an enemy that could and probably will kill him." she admitted.

Leslie expected as much. She also knew what Kara had really expected. "You wanted him free, but deep down, you know he was never going to stay. That's okay, Kara. He doesn't belong here. Yes, he is your blood, but you consider a robot to be a brother. That tells me how much you care about blood. There is only one thing to do now."

"Send him back to the Phantom Zone until he gets a better attitude?" Alex suggested, obviously trying to lighten her little sister's mood, knowing she succeeded when Kara smiled. Even Leslie chuckled.

"I have to train him." Kara admitted. "I need to use up this excess energy and working with him would be a good way to do it. He doesn't need to know everything, just how to control his strength, senses and use his heat vision."

"Which took you years." Alex reminded her. "I don't want this guy sticking around for years if he is just planning on leaving and I don't want those Legion idiots here any longer than they have to be. You won't have your powers that long regardless. Nothing has changed. As soon as you burn out, the crystal goes in."

Kara nodded. "I know Alex, don't worry, I haven't changed my mind, but he doesn't need to learn everything I learned. He doesn't need to zap bullets with his heat vision, or cool water in a glass one second and make a glacier the next. He doesn't need to know six different types of martial arts..."

"Seven." Alex corrected. "We know seven."

"We have only mastered six. When's the last time you used jujitsu besides making out with Cameron Chase? Not that it wasn't fun... I can't believe I just said that." Kara's eyes were wide.

Both girls were a little red-faced as Leslie laughed, a full on belly laugh. Wiping at her eyes, the therapist said, "You might as well get used to it. That whole mind meld thing you two did is going to screw you both up more than you realize. There is such a thing as knowing someone too well."

Kara shook her head, trying to shove that particular memory of Alex's away. "Regardless, he doesn't need to know all that. He only needs to know how to break through a shield. I am pretty sure he isn't going to outsmart Brainiac 13 so he will have to rely on brute force. Using his heat vision at will, controlling his strength... I could have him trained in the basics in three weeks… four tops. After that, it's up to him."

"And if your power dims to the point that the bracelet affects you?" Alex asked tentatively.

Kara did not hesitate. "The crystal goes in and he can spar with the Daxamite and Lobo."

Alex nodded, satisfied with her sincerity. Perhaps this would be beneficial for Kara to drain her excess solar energy more quickly than just unleashing heat vision alone into a visor.

The process would have to be monitored closely, not her powers as much as her mental state.

Cautiously, Alex asked, "Kara... do you think we, I mean you, could do something like that... engage in combat without..."

"Going over the edge?" Kara guessed where her sister's question was going with ease.

Alex nodded softly.

"I'm not sure. Can you? We keep each other from the edge now, Alex. We are going to be walking it the rest of our lives." Kara pointed out, squeezing Alex's hand carefully then grinned. "But at least we are walking that edge together."

She noticed movement below. "I should go talk to him. Looks like Clark and Dad are leaving him alone, staring at Rao. I know how lonely that can make someone feel."

"So do I." Alex agreed.

The two gave each other a look of understanding and Kara softly floated down from the rooftop to her great-grandfather. "It seems so small, doesn't it?"

Seg looked at her with a sad smile. "It... I don't know. I've never been a 'sharing my feelings' kind of guy but yes. It makes you feel alone in a way. I am sorry, Kara. I shouldn't put all this on you, you're dealing with enough. I just feel… I have unfinished business with that asshole."

"You know if you go, you can never come back." Kara told him.

Seg stood still for a moment, taking that in. "Why? They could bring me back..."

Kara shook her head. "They missed their target date by twenty years. Time travel is not an exact science and never will be. You could overshoot this time and screw up the timeline in the past. You could wind up twenty years from now, even five years from now with knowledge of the future, knowledge you would never be able to share. Once you go, that's it. You are stuck there, never to return."

Seg shook his head and crossed his arms, leaning back on the rail of the deck. "They believe we can return seconds after they left, right? That's what Kelex told me."

Kara nodded. "Yes, Kelex told you what they believe. But their track record is terrible when it comes to their timing. Again, I would point out that they didn't wind up in the time period they aimed for. You could very well end up two thousand years in the future, during a time where Brainiac has already won. You could wind up five years before they left, meaning they would have time remnants of themselves in their own time. I know I won't talk you out of it. I just want you to understand the dangers."

Seg turned to look towards the ocean, taking a moment to gather his thoughts. "My friend, Adam, he is good at time travel. He will come with us. I know he will. He fought Brainiac with me before and he will want to end it. I believe he is from this time period. If I could find him... he can guide us."

Kara laughed softly, trying a different tack to get him to see her point. "How did a human come to be on Krypton during your time?"

Seg smiled at the memory. "He said... he wanted to be a hero. He had been visited by Rann scientists who transported to Earth. He snuck through the portal after they left and wound up on Rann. Since he was already there, one of their scientists took him under his wing. It was a long story, but Adam decided he needed to stop Brainiac, so he stole something called a Zeta Beam and used it to teleport to the closest planet Brainiac was near. Unfortunately he somehow wound up in the past… with me... I suppose I see your point. Time travel is not an exact science."

He studied her for a bit before asking, "How long?"

Kara was confused by that question. "How long what?"

"How long after you turned on the television and saw Doomsday did it take you to decide to fight him? Was it even a decision? Kelex told me you went immediately to the Fortress and sliced your leg open to force him to take the crystal out."

"Kelex talks too much." Kara grumbled.

"I wanted to know everything, the good and the bad. He thought it would be best if I did before I walked into a situation I had no idea about." Seg explained. "How long, Kara?"

"No time at all." she admitted. "I saw it and I reacted."

Seg nodded his head, a fond look on his face. "Like Nyssa. No hesitation to fight, no matter the odds. She would stand in front of an army with a knife if she thought it was worth fighting for."

Kara smiled slightly. "I've seen holos of her. Do I look so much like her to you?"

Seg turned fully towards her and grinned. "It's your eyes. The fire behind those blue eyes. A beautiful woman with the heart and fire of a warrior. Breathtakingly beautiful one moment and a savage warrior the next. Yes, you remind me of her very much. Did she... Kelex didn't say... I didn't ask... I was too afraid, I suppose."

"She died in her sleep when she was 101 years old. She never remarried and she never stopped wearing the House of El crest. It was placed on her burial pod before she was sent to Rao." Kara told him as gently as possible. "My mother told me once, that when they found her, she was in bed, clutching your jacket. She would tell me stories about you, but I always thought they were fairy tales. Clark has your jacket now. It was placed in the Fortress, I guess by your son, after her death."

Seg turned back to the ocean and grabbed the ledge of the deck once again. Kara had no doubt if he weren't wearing a red bracelet the wood would have crumbled. His back began heaving and she realized he was crying.

"Seg?"

The man shook his head. "I'm sorry, Kara. My son, my grandsons... that isn't the legacy you should have been left with. It wasn't supposed to happen this way. It never should have happened."

Kara placed a hand on the man's shoulder. "What has happened, has happened. But I've created my own legacy. I like to think the good I did outweighs the bad. Clark will create his own legacy as well and he is going to be amazing. Even one thousand years from now, the Universe still knows his name... both our names. They know of Batman, J'onn, they will know of Alex... we created our own legacy. I guess yours isn't over yet."

Trying one more time, she said, "Or you can stay, be a part of this family. You could guide Clark..."

Seg shook his head, tears still in his eyes. "Clark already has two heroes who can guide him well. I have to beat him… Brainiac. If I knew where he was now, in this time, I would go. I would take that Lobo guy and the two of us could find him... but Kelex doesn't have a clue to his whereabouts. The only place I know to find him is nearly a thousand years from now.

"Kara, you never had a choice to fight your Aunt and Uncle, your father's monsters... it was never a decision for you. I don't have the luxury of a decision either."

Kara nodded her head and sighed. "Yeah, I know. I will help you… I will teach you what I can as quick as I can. If you won't stay, it's best you leave as soon as you're ready to fight."

Seg wiped his eyes and smiled. "Ready to get rid of me as soon as possible, right?"

Kara nodded her head. "I wish you would stay but since you won't, you need to leave as soon as possible. I don't want the time travelers here longer than necessary. I'm trying to get somewhat as normal a life as I can get, and they are a reminder of all I'm trying to leave behind. The other reason, the main and most important reason is Clark."

"Clark?"

Kara nodded her head. "I'm sorry, but I don't want him to become attached to the last good person to come from the House of El if you are going to leave. It would hurt him, and I don't want him hurt. He will experience enough pain in his life. His path, his destiny will be a hard one. I have to keep him as safe as possible. That is one thing my sister and I have done since Clark and I landed here. We keep him safe from pain. Do you understand?"

Seg did understand. He was no stranger to abandonment issues himself. "So... we start tomorrow?"

Kara nodded. "Outside the Fortress, at night. I can't be seen using powers. Alex is at our house now, getting her room ready for you. She doesn't use it much lately anyway, so you can sleep in there without being disturbed. Let me say good night to my Mom and Dad and we can go. It's a very short walk."

The next morning, Kara woke up, lying on her back with Alex's hand on her face and Streaky wrapped in her hair. She would definitely be moving Alex's bed in here as soon as Seg no longer needed it. She knew her sister was still a bit frightened, scared that this was a dream and when she woke, Kara would be dead.

Kara listened carefully to her surroundings and could tell by his breathing and heart rate that Seg was still sleeping deeply in her sister's room. Glancing over at her nightstand, she noted it was eight o'clock. Kara was pleasantly surprised she had slept as long as she did. Lately, she had only been getting four to five hours of sleep a night due to the solar energy running in her body making her restless.

She heard a car pull into the drive and looked quickly. Her Mom and Dad always walked to the house and Clark just ran. Kara didn't recognize the car, but she did recognize the woman getting out of it.

"Oh, shit." Kara mumbled and slowly moved out of the bed, leaving Alex still sleeping soundly and Streaky upset at being moved.

Kara changed quickly into shorts and a t-shirt, not bothering with her glasses. She didn't need them to disguise herself from her surprise guest.

She opened the front door and stepped out on the porch to greet Marie Evans. The woman looked much the same as the last time Kara saw her, only more casual, wearing jeans and to Kara's surprise, a Supergirl t-shirt.

The woman took off her sunglasses and stared at Kara for a moment.

"It's true." Miss Evans finally whispered slowly moving toward Kara.

"It's good to see you again." Kara told her truthfully as the woman embraced her, obviously emotional. In all the chaos, she had not thought about Marie Evans, but the blonde should have known that in a town this small, the one woman who knew her true identity would hear she was back or run into her eventually. "Come in and I will start the coffee."

Kara moved directly to the kitchen and began a pot of coffee brewing then entered the living room where a slightly dazed Miss Evans sat on the couch. Kara took a seat next to her.

"So... you probably have some questions." Kara started, understating the obvious. "How did you find out I was back?"

Miss Evans blinked a few times and shook her head. "Pete Ross's sister works at the local bookstore. I was there and heard Pete talking to Courtney about Clark's hot sister who had just returned from Europe. I wasn't sure... I had to see... where have you been for the past year? Were you hiding in Europe?"

Kara shook her head. "No, I was in the core of the sun." she told Miss Evans, deciding there was really no point in lying to a woman who had kept a big secret to herself over the years.

"The sun? You really flew that snake thing into the sun?" Her former teacher looked horrified.

"Teleported there, actually. The snake king was a symbiont and attacked me, tried to take control of my mind and body. The only way I knew to kill it was to send myself to a place I knew neither of us could survive.

"Except that I did, well… parts of me anyway, mostly my brain and spine. It apparently took a year for my body to rebuild itself and gain the strength I needed to escape. Thankfully I don't remember much. I landed a few weeks ago. Okay, more like I crashed in the Amazon Rainforest and left a huge crater. Alex found me and brought me home."

Miss Evans opened her mouth to say something, but nothing came out. Kara seeing she needed a moment walked to the kitchen and came out a moment later with two cups of coffee.

Miss Evans was steadily looking over her former student, obviously still in disbelief that she was sitting with her. "You... the scar by your eyebrow, it's gone."

"Benefits of a rebuilt body." Kara explained.

"Also, that red ring, you said it kept you alive after Metropolis..."

"Yeah, that's a long story that will take much more than one pot of coffee."

Kara heard footsteps above and hoped Seg wouldn't come down, so of course he did.

And he wasn't wearing a shirt.

"Good morning, Kara, Good morning, Kara's guest. Is that the breakfast drink Kelex told me about? Oh what was it… coffee?" Seg asked, pointing toward the cup in Kara's hand.

Kara nodded her head, noting the look on Miss Evans face, not that she could really blame her. Her great-grandfather was a ruggedly handsome, well-built young man.

Seg grinned. "Great! I think I'll grab a cup and enjoy the ocean view."

The man walked into the kitchen and a few moments later walked out the back door.

Miss Evans looked at Kara, slightly flushed. "Boyfriend?"

The blonde shook her head. "Great-grandfather. We just rescued him from a place called the Phantom Zone where he has been stuck for the past couple centuries. He is just visiting. He plans to travel about a thousand years into the future soon to save the universe."

Miss Evans stared at her for a few seconds then laughed. "No one will ever say you have a boring life. The funny thing is, I don't doubt a thing you just said… it's amazing."

A gleam entered her eye as she grinned at her all-time favorite student. "Even more so, you are amazing, Kara Danvers. You rebuilt your body in the sun and escaped the enormous pressure… all so you could come back and finish your final two classes. Now that is dedication."

Kara was surprised to say the least, not understanding what she was talking about. "My final two classes?"

Miss Evans nodded, grinning even wider. "You have two classes left with plenty of time to complete them over the summer. I talked Anne into staying on for the past year and now she can stay a few more months at the start of the new year. You can sit in her classes through the fall to complete your observation hours and then take over after the Holiday break."

Kara said nothing for a moment, taking in what she just heard. "You still want me?"

"I think saving the world was a good reason for not completing your classes last summer. I'm not sure what you think has changed. Since the world hasn't seen you flying around, I suppose you are still wanting to retire from the superhero life, correct?"

Kara nodded her head quickly. "Yes. Soon I will be giving up my powers, all of them, permanently."

Miss Evans rose an eyebrow. "You can do that?"

"Yes, I've done it before, but... this time, no matter what happens, I am done. If there is another alien invasion, I'm going to hide like the rest of humanity. I'm done. I just don't... you really still want me?"

Miss Evans reached over and gently wiped a tear from Kara's cheek surprising her. She hadn't realized she was crying.

"You poor child." Miss Evans whispered and moved closer to her, wrapping Kara in a hug. Kara did not move but her tears did begin to fall, her shoulders shaking, and eyes closed tightly. Before she could stop herself, she was sobbing, Marie's hand rubbing her back and calming her down.

Finally Kara composed herself and sat back. "I'm sorry."

Miss Evans shook her head, a small smile and understanding expression on her face. "Never apologize for that. I have a feeling you needed it.

"So, since you are back, do I still have a teacher? Anne very much wants to retire. Roger already has and the choir was left with Livingston the past year. It wasn't good. I could really use Kara Danvers."

Kara nodded her head. "I'll be there. Thank you."

"No, thank you… thank you for saving the world. You still have the same number?" Miss Evans asked.

Kara told her she did.

"Call me as soon as the classes are completed. I don't imagine it would take you long. I need to register you for observation hours as soon as you are done."

Miss Evans stood up and moved towards the backdoor. "I'm going out the back to drool over your great-grandfather."

Kara laughed, feeling much lighter and even happy as she followed her to her car.

"Kara, if you ever need somebody to hold you while you cry and not ask questions, don't hesitate to call."

"Thank you." Kara told her sincerely.

"You have a fresh start. Welcome back… and welcome to your new life." Miss Evans told her.

Kara watched her as she drove off then moved back to the house.

In the kitchen, she found Alex with a steaming cup of coffee in her hands.

"I wondered how long it would take for word to reach her that Kara Danvers was back from Europe." Alex said. "So, was that just a stop to check if you were really still alive?"

"Yes and no." Kara told her, a smile lighting up her face. "I have a job now."

"Great. I don't think I can make myself go back to that boring lab in Raleigh. So one of us needs a job or people will start asking where our money comes from." Alex smirked and sat her empty cup on the counter. "Seriously though, to keep from being bored, I'll continue consulting on CDC cases from here, or the Fortress… maybe I'll get Bruce to build me a lab in Midvale as a cover… and Mom and Dad could work for me."

Kara's laughter exploded at the thought, Alex laughing along with her. After they settled down, Kara said, "Yeah, maybe we can take the summers during school breaks and go on all those vacations we never got a chance to take."

"Now that sounds like a plan, sis." Alex grinned, enjoying the look of happiness on Kara's face. Leaning back against the counter, she eased into the subject she really wanted to talk about. "So, Seg is definitely going?"

"Yep." Kara replied.

Alex was not surprised. She knew last night, watching him and Kara talk. "He needs to leave as soon as possible. Clark shouldn't become attached to him only for him leave… I don't want him hurt. We need to talk to Clark, explain what's going to happen."

Kara nodded; not surprised Alex had the same thought she did. "We start training tonight. Dress warm. This is going to happen in Antarctica. I'm also taking some guests along with us."

Alex laughed, having expected as much. "You're going to play punch the Daxamite, aren't you?"

"How can I not?" Kara asked, laughing with her sister.

Later that evening, the Danvers, J'onn, Bruce and Lobo were at the Fortress with Seg, Brainy, Lar and Garth. Kara was dressed in a black ensemble resembling a commando outfit.

"First thing you need to do is watch." she told Seg. "Watch what I am capable of, how I move, what powers I have. Afterward, we will come inside and turn off the red lights. You will work on becoming used to your highly sensitive hearing and your enhanced strength. I promise you, nothing in your life has prepared you to harness the power you are about to receive."

"I'm ready." Seg assured her.

Kara shook her head. "Not for this you aren't. Lar Gand?"

"Yes?" he asked, excitedly. He hadn't been around the family since they were first brought to the Fortress and looked forward to helping.

"You have nearly the same powers I do, right?"

Lar nodded. "I'm not strong enough to break through Brainiac's shield and his weapons nearly killed me but yes, we have similar powers. Would you like my help training him?"

Kara smiled, a smile that sent a shiver of slight fear through the Daxamite.

"You are definitely going to be a huge help. Let's step outside and show Seg how to fight with our powers. The two of us are going to spar." Kara told him.

"Spar?"

"Yes, or we could call it what it is. I'm going to beat the hell out of you so he can see how it's done. You ready?"

Lar shook his head, a look of fear on his face. "Not at all."

"Too bad. You traveled back through time to find a Kryptonian. You found one. I just want to make sure you get your money's worth."


	29. Chapter 29

**Thanks to all you who have been reading our newest story Life Equation. It's a fun story to write and a very different tone than this series. There will be one chapter after this one and then an epilogue. Thank you all for sticking with this series. Love you guys.**

 **Do not own DC or CW characters**

 **Chapter 29**

Alex stood in front of Justin, watching the screen outside as Kara waited to spar with the Daxamite. Seg had initially been with her, but when he had taken his cuff off outside to see them clearly in the dark, he learned how painful the sound of wind was to his enhanced ear drums. Alex had to guide him back inside.

Now Kara was out there alone, meditating, waiting on Lar Gand who had requested Kelex make him a suit similar to his Legionnaires outfit for sparring against her sister. Alex wasn't sure what good a suit would do, but it did give her a good laugh when she saw him, decked out in red with a blue cape.

"Nice, very original. That's what you want to be buried in?" Alex asked the man.

Lar looked a bit apprehensive. "We are just sparring. How are you doing with the hearing, Seg?"

Seg gave him a thumbs up and Alex held back a snort… naturally he was doing well inside the Fortress with a red solar cuff on his wrist.

Seg took the cuff off again, squeezing his eyes and taking several deep breaths. Alex taking pity on him walked over quietly and whispered. "When you get out there concentrate on my heartbeat. Work on finding it. When you see Kara in the dark don't look away. Got it?"

"I'm fine. I've been in noisier situations." He saw her knowing smirk, and sighed. "That is a complete lie by the way. How do they stand this?"

Alex managed not to roll her eyes. "They are tough. Kara learned to manage it while running cross country with a baby in her arms. I'm sure you will be fine. Let's go."

Seg raised an eyebrow. "You are coming as well? It's 30 below outside."

Alex shrugged it off. "This suit keeps me warm. It's what I wore when Kara and I first started flying here… hollowing out this ice mountain, building the layout and preparing for the Fortress. I'm kinda used to it... besides, she needs me out there."

"To fight?" Seg was obviously confused.

Alex shook her head. "No… to make sure she doesn't go over the edge. Kara only knows one way to fight. I suggest you watch her closely. You will never be as good as her but pay attention to how she uses her strength in her strikes and maximizes her speed, the way she slides around her opponent. It's almost like she is playing a chess match. She plays until she has them in the position that she wants and then... checkmate."

"But she is stronger than I will be. She is supercharged, right?" Seg asked.

Alex shrugged her shoulders. "She is wearing a red sun bracelet. But... yeah, she will be stronger than you, although her levels are coming down. Anyway, it doesn't matter. Even at her normal strength, she is unstoppable. Hey, Daxamite!"

Alex walked over to the brightly clad man. "You look nervous so I will tell you some rules to abide by and you might survive this, understand?"

The man nodded quickly.

"You ever heard of Wonder Woman in the future?" Alex asked, cocking her head to the side, taking in the visibly trembling Legionnaire.

"Yes." He said, glancing over to Brainy and Garth.

"Kara beat the hell out of her the last time they sparred. It really wasn't even a contest. If you see her eyes start to glow, back off, fall on the ground, curl into a ball. Make yourself appear as small and defenseless as possible." Alex advised.

The man's confusion was obvious. "I thought we were just sparring. You make her sound like a rabid wolf or something."

Alex looked the man in the eye. "Just do what I say. Don't speak when fighting her, you might say something that triggers her, and you really do not want to do that. Also, protect your face. She may break your arms but it's better than her caving in your skull. Just... be careful."

"Thanks for your concern." Lar had gone pale white in the face.

Alex put her hands on the Daxamite's shoulders to steady him when she noticed he was swaying, afraid he may fall over from the sudden loss of blood to his head. "I'm worried about her, not you. Follow my advice or... look, if you screw up and make her kill you, I'll kill your friends. She doesn't need that and neither do I. We have enough blood on our hands, so umm... just go."

Lar walked out a little unsteadily with Seg, Brainy and Garth following. The members of Kara's team stayed behind, content to watch on screen. Leslie was standing with the girls' very nervous parents and Clark who looked concerned.

Alex looked at her family and friends and gave some final instructions. "I'll be outside. J'onn, Lobo… if anything happens, do not try to restrain her. I'll stop her."

In the past, the two individuals with super strength might have disagreed, telling Alex it was too dangerous. That was not the case now. If Kara lost herself, none of them could stop her. Alex was the only chance they had of keeping Kara from killing the Daxamite.

As Alex slipped her thermal mask on, Leslie patted her on the back. "You okay?"

Alex shook her head. "I never wanted either of us to fight again. It's been a very long time since we fought with no intent to kill. I don't know how this is going to go."

Leslie sighed, not happy herself. This was not what the girls needed. "When you get home tonight, you both need to meditate, calm down. What is your stress level right now?"

"Ugh, I'm thinking of drinking a bottle of tequila or calling Dick Grayson and screw... damn it! Anyway, you get the point. It's high." Alex remarked, closing her eyes in dismay.

Leslie burst out laughing. "I told you not to go into her mind. You both need to go to a meeting tomorrow. It's time to start. If you want a drink, I guarantee Kara does."

"I will. I need to go referee this match before it gets out of hand." Alex said as she slipped her mask in place and headed out the front door.

Outside under a darkening sky, Lar walked towards Kara, barely making out the blonde clad in black. He was happy to see her smiling as she opened her eyes and focused on him.

"That's the costume I had to wait for Kelex to make? It's cute." Kara told him, clearly amused.

"It was inspired by you." Lar stated, trying to gain some goodwill from the legendary woman.

"Should have worn a skirt then. Seg's hands are over his ears, but he is watching. Have you ever fought Brainiac?"

Lar nodded. "I'm not strong enough to punch through the shield of his ship but he did come planet side once. He's mostly machine, except his head and some organs. He also has telekinetic powers. I was able to break out of his invisible grip though. It took a lot out of me and when he and I fought... it nearly killed me. He was as strong as I was and didn't get tired."

Kara could understand that, thinking of prior fights with her Aunt, Doomsday and Reign. "Okay, make your move. You fought Brainiac, so you know how to fight as he does. Seg needs to know how to avoid his strikes. Can you emulate him? At least when we start?"

"I think so, or at least I can try." Lar said, still looking very unsure.

Kara nodded and smiled. "You'll do fine, just think back to that fight, but don't dwell on it. You can also fight as you've been taught, if you'll be more comfortable using a technique you are familiar with. Just relax, center yourself, then begin when you're ready."

Lar looked hesitant at first but finally swung at her head only to find air. Remembering the fight with Brainiac, he attacked her using the Coluan's initial moves. He saw her to the right and swung back but found air again. She hadn't even flown. The man threw every shot he had at her for the next five minutes and found nothing but air. It was if she were a ghost. Growing somewhat frustrated, he settled into his own comfortable, fighting stance and continued to try and hit her.

Finally he saw her zip behind him. He lashed out with his cape and caught her around her lower leg. The man pulled, hoping to pull her leg out from under her.

Instead, she stood there, staring at his cape wrapped around her leg, then at him.

"What is this?" Kara asked, pointing to her leg.

"Uh, a technique I use in my time, to throw opponents off balance." He explained.

Kara cocked her head to the side, eerily similar to the look Alex gave him earlier. "And… that move… works for you?"

"Yes?" Lar squeaked out.

Kara launched a spin kick, jerking the man, bringing Lar towards her using his cape and sending her foot into his face, his body collapsing to the ground from the blow. He scrambled back dazed, trying to gain distance. Not even Brainiac had hit him that hard.

"I hope you didn't pull that crap on Brainiac. If you did, you deserve to get beaten to death." Kara told him. She walked slowly towards him as if she were a stalking lion.

"Does your cape unclip? If someone grabbed mine, it came unclipped. I would use it to wrap my enemy's head, blind him and beat his skull in until it was bone dust.

"Seg, are you paying attention? Brainiac is mostly machine. The mechanical parts of him can be torn from the organic parts. He needs both to survive. Whether his spine is natural or cybernetic, it can be broken and will give you an advantage."

Kara looked down at the Daxamite and beckoned with her finger for him to stand. He did so holding his nose and was concerned that he saw blood in his hand.

"My turn." she told him, focusing on the blood, all playfulness gone from her expression. Her eyes glowed and he saw an almost evil smile on her face. Lar Gand was not sure what happened next. He felt several blows to his chest and back, his leg was pulled in the air and he swore he heard something crack.

He thought he heard a growl and caught a flash of glowing eyes again. The man tried to remember what Alex had told him, tried to roll into a ball, but it was too late. He felt the punches become stronger until he nearly blacked out.

Then, he found himself in a very bad position. His feet were on the ground, but he was bent backwards, and Kara had her arm around his neck in a tight vice. He couldn't move.

He was defenseless and completely at her mercy.

He heard someone call out to Kara, but he was slowly blacking out and he couldn't think.

Alex was suddenly standing in front of her, the older sister's hands on Kara's cheeks and he knew she was saying something.

Kara's arm relaxed and he could breathe again. She let go and he dropped into the snow, coughing up more blood, his body screaming in pain. Slowly, Lar stood up, on shaky legs, feeling like he had been hit by a thousand Brainiacs. His vision was blurry and the dark and snow was not making it better. He could also taste blood in his mouth and felt it pouring from his nose. His right eye felt heavy as if there were a ball behind it.

He nearly fell but was caught by his two teammates.

"Sprock," Brainiac whispered. "I need to check you for internal injuries. I believe there is a solar bed inside."

Garth shook his head, part in concern, part in disbelief. He hadn't seen his friend this messed up even after his encounter with Brainiac 13. "Did you see how she moved? Her strikes were so precise and vicious. I could barely see but when her eyes glowed and that look on her face when she bent Lar back... Brainy, I really thought she was going to break his neck."

Brainy shook his head and helped Garth with Lar as they walked him slowly back into the Fortress. That Supergirl was going to win any match against anyone was a foregone conclusion but he truly feared his friend was going to die as well. He hadn't accounted for her mental health issues. If not for her sister, she would have killed Lar.

"She has only been trained and fought one way in her life. She isn't the Legion, she doesn't hold to our ideals, but she never had any other alternative. Her first goal has always been to kill her enemies. She experienced a flashback, I suspect. In fact, she warned us it could happen, the whole family did. When she opens up that box in her head where her years of training are stored, it all comes out." Brainy explained.

Not that his explanation really helped his brutally beaten friend, but Brainy was feeling great remorse for not seriously listening to the family's concerns.

He was primarily interested in the success of their mission, so he discounted their worries. But more than that, he was secretly longing to see Supergirl in action, to see her fighting prowess, to personally experience the legend in all her glory.

It was apparent Kara's fighting abilities were greatly understated in all the stories he knew of her. It was also apparent that she wouldn't be able to train her great-grandfather to fight Brainiac 13 without killing her sparring partner.

Glancing behind him, he saw Alex with her arm around Kara, walking toward the Fortress. The twist in his gut was evidence of seeing the fallout of their presence and exactly why the family was so anxious to get rid of him and his friends.

Under the lights, Kara could see the blood on her hands from the Daxamite's face. She could feel his blood frozen on her face. Her parents were looking at her anxiously, Clark's eyes were wide, and Leslie looked sad.

Kara vomited.

She knelt on the ground while Eliza and Alex rubbed her back. Kelex handed Jeremiah a towel and he thought of cleaning the blood off her hands and face, but it was frozen there.

Kara worked to control her breathing, Alex whispering in her ear.

Kara finally shook her head and stood up, taking the towel from her Dad and wiping her mouth. She turned and saw J'onn, Batman and Lobo standing beside her.

"Is he alive?" Kara asked.

Lobo nodded his head. "He's going to need some serious sun and his face ain't so pretty no more, but he'll live."

Kara looked towards the front door, seeing Brainy and Garth making their way further into the Fortress practically carrying the Daxamite.

Kara walked slowly towards him. Lar actually flinched when he looked up at her.

"I'm sorry. I... I have no excuse." she apologized, her voice wavering.

Lar managed a smile. "It's okay. I'll be the only one in my time to say I got my ass personally kicked by Kara Zor El. You got a solar bed around here?"

Kara nodded her head and looked towards Kelex who motioned for the Legionnaires to follow him.

Kara looked at her family and friends. She didn't want to meet their eyes but made herself.

Addressing Seg directly, she said, "I'm sorry. I can't train you. I just... Seg... you are going to have to be trained by Lobo, Bruce and J'onn. I just can't do it anymore. Not... the last fight I had was with Reign… she beat me and just for a second I saw her... I wanted to break her neck. I snapped… and I can't risk that happening again, so I can't do this. It's over. I swear, I will never fight again."

Seg walked to her and pulled her into a hug as much as he could considering her strength. "I understand. I trust them."

"Kara." Jeremiah called to her softly. "Let's get you home and cleaned up, okay."

Kara nodded her head and she walked side by side with her parents and sister out of the Fortress, Leslie following them.

Clark stayed behind and made his way to the solar bed, glad to see Lar Gand resting on it.

"Weird, isn't it?" the boy asked the prone man.

"What is?" He asked in a nasally voice.

"You were like almost a thousand years into the future… but Daxam still managed to get their ass kicked by Krypton. It's almost like your planet is destined to lose. Probably karma from all the slaves you had. No worries, she won't do it again. I really do hope you feel better."

Clark left the man, annoyed that Kara had gone back to a dark place but also slightly amused. He hadn't been happy since these guys had shown up, despite meeting Seg whom Alex and Kara explained was going to the future with the time travelers no matter what. Typical Kryptonian from the House of El, looking for a fight.

Before he reached the transporter, Seg stopped him. "Kal... Clark... will Kara be okay?"

Clark shook his head. "Kara will never be okay, but she's a fighter. She won't lose this fight. Have fun playing with Lobo. If Batman wants to train with you, I recommend not wearing a red cuff. That way, he won't kill you."

"Okay." Seg nodded a little distracted, still upset for Kara's sake.

"But he will make you wish you were dead." Clark continued. "Excuse me, I need to check on my sister."

Inside Eliza and Jeremiah's house, after a brief discussion, Alex decided to speak to Leslie and Eliza stood inside the bathroom while Kara took a shower.

"I'm not going to hurt myself, Mom. Those days are over." Kara said over the running water.

"Maybe I just want to be near you. I hate it when you go home at night. Alex isn't the only one who is afraid this is a dream and when I wake up you will be gone." Her mother said, her voice breaking a bit.

Kara opened the shower curtain and looked at her mother then down at her body where the frozen blood from her face had melted and was streaming to the shower floor.

"Did you dream of this?" Kara's face was crestfallen, even as the evidence of the evening's setback was washed down the drain.

Eliza shook her head. "Did you mean it? What you said about fighting?"

"Yes, I'm never hitting another person again, even in sparring. Can you grab the visor from the Fortress in the morning? I don't want to be there so I would rather continue burning the energy off at night."

Eliza smiled, nodding and Kara closed the shower curtain once again. The mother hesitantly walked out of the bathroom but leaned against the wall by the door.

That was where Jeremiah found her a minute later.

"I thought you were going to stay inside." the man whispered as softly as possible, the anxious look on his face giving his thoughts away.

Eliza shook her head. "She's fine. She can handle this."

"She feels guilty. You know what she does when she feels guilty." Eliza could see how worried Jeremiah was.

Eliza reached out and took both his hands. "That's over. She and Alex are going to a meeting tomorrow night. It will be fine. I'm going to do something I haven't done in a very long time. I'm going to have faith in her, faith that she can beat this."

The man took a deep breath and nodded his head. "Is it wrong that I wish we had just sent those guys back or let Lobo take them? That we never pulled Seg out?"

Eliza shook her head. "You think I haven't had the same questions? But he is and... I think Seg needs to stay with us for the rest of the time he is here."

Jeremiah thought of it for a moment. "I'm not sure I want Clark having that much contact with him, become too attached."

"Clark will be fine. He will be better able to handle this than Kara and Alex. Kara needs to study, and Alex needs to work. They both have a lot to do and having someone else in their space isn't what they need now." Eliza decided. "Maybe they can finally move Alex's bed into Kara's room so Kara can sleep without worrying about breaking Alex."

The next day, Kara began working on her online classes, Seg moved in with the Danvers while Alex and Kara moved Alex's bed into Kara's room. Though Kara had wanted Alex to start sleeping in her own room, the blonde knew that wasn't going to happen anytime soon and admitted to herself that Alex being near her helped her sleep better.

That night, they attended their first substance abuse group as sisters. This group held meetings outside of Midvale and knew both what it was like to feel the rush of drugs and the relaxation of alcohol.

Kara was quiet for the most part, content for them to sit in the back and not say a word. Alex was not. She wanted Kara to feel connected to this group, so she stood up to Kara's unease and walked to the empty podium in front.

Alex and Kara had faced down the worst monsters in the Universe, but this made her sweat a bit.

"Hello. My name is Alex. This is the first time we have been in a meeting together I suppose you could say. I've been to family nights, Al Anon, but... this is different."

The audience waited, no one saying a word, but Alex did see smiles and supportive faces which emboldened her.

"My sister and I have both gone through some pretty traumatic experiences in our lives. I remember what it was like, every detail. Last night, I wanted a drink so badly. I could almost taste it, longed for the feeling of escape it gave us... me. We haven't had a drink in over two years, but I know, all it takes is one. One line to wake me from depression, to give me a buzz like nothing else ever has or will, one drink to help me forget.

"But we won't. We won't because we have each other's back. When one of is weak, the other will be strong. When one of us wants to give up, the other won't let her. I once wondered why my sister did the things she did, took the substances she did but then I found out why and it scared the hell out of me. Losing myself, losing her... we have fought together, side-by-side our whole lives but now... that feeling I had last night, the feeling I knew she had, I understand that this will be the biggest fight we will ever face.

"Getting out of bed every morning despite how I feel, it is a challenge. I am glad we are here though with all of you, glad we are a part of this and always will be. We could have lost everything, but we haven't. We had family to pick us up, did what was necessary whether we liked it or not. We hit rock bottom and had people who pulled us to the top again. We have a long way to go, but I know we will get there. It may take the rest of our lives, but we will get there."

Alex looked towards the back of the room, Kara had adjusted her glasses to wipe the tears from eyes, but she was smiling.

"We will get there together, baby sister. We won't let each fall again."

Alex walked to the back and took her seat next to Kara.

"Next time, you are talking." she whispered to her little sister. Kara smiled and nodded slightly, her eyes glistening.

"I wish you didn't have this burden on you." the blonde whispered, leaning closer to her sister.

Alex leaned her head on over against her sister's. "Kara, I wouldn't have it any other way… because I would have never really understood what you felt, why it was such a struggle. I knew in my head, but I needed to experience it, to remember it and understand. I wouldn't change that."

Kara pulled her into a hug, gentle as she always was with her family.

Alex sniffled, clearing her throat, admitting, "I wouldn't mind if I could forget your bad relationships... and mine."

Kara snorted. "It wasn't all bad. I remember coming home that Valentine's day and Cameron was only wearing that red ribbon and..." Kara's eyes grew wide as she huffed, a pained expression on her face. "We have got to do something to fix this."

The next week passed uneventfully for the most part. Kara had not seen Seg or the Legion much or even her friends. She supposed they were hard at work and she could have stopped by the Fortress at any time to watch if she wanted.

But Kara knew she was avoiding Seg. She didn't regret what she did but the sight of him, of them, took her back to a time she was trying to forget. A time of preparing for war, suiting up, clenching her fists and the rush that came from a fight, whether she was drunk or high or just angry and looking for a target on which to unleash her rage.

The fourth night Seg came over to visit. The three shared a dinner but he never brought up his training and Kara was thankful. He hadn't been wearing a red cuff and didn't break anything, so she supposed he was making progress.

Alex suggested a movie, but Kara begged off, using her online classes as an excuse. She knew it hurt the man, but she couldn't help it. He looked at her with longing as if he wanted to really know her, but his desire wasn't enough to keep him here. Leslie was locked in her room doing god knows what.

Everything was fine until Kara heard a scream from downstairs. She heard Alex call her name and was by her side before the second syllable left Alex's mouth.

She found Alex with a shocked face and Seg in the back of the room, arm over his closed eyes that Kara could feel the heat from. The blonde picked the man up in her arms and rushed him to the cliff where he removed his arm and opened his eyes, twin beams of heat vision blasting into the sky.

"Let it out." she whispered to her great-grandfather.

Once the man calmed, the two walked back into the house where a sheepish Alex waited.

Kara glanced at the TV and saw a video of Stephen King's ' _It_ ' was paused.

"Really, Alex?" the irritated blonde asked.

Alex lifted her hands. "How was I supposed to know that 2 out of 3 Kryptonians don't like horror movies? Clark never has a problem with them."

Kara shook her head and took the Blu Ray out, instead putting Titanic on and left the two.

Seg knocked on her door two hours later.

"Come in." Kara said softly.

The door opened and an embarrassed Seg stood by the doorframe.

"Hi. Alex had to run over to your parents' house for a few minutes, so I thought I'd check on you and apologize for what happened earlier. I'm so sorry. J'onn has been working with me, using anger to bring my heat vision to the surface and it has been working fine but the freaky clown was a bit of a surprise. Humans actually enjoy this kind of entertainment?"

"Alex does." Kara told him, smirking.

"You know Rose murdered Jack, right? All she had to do was move over on the board."

Kara shrugged her shoulders and chuckled. "I came to terms with that long ago. It was tragic and, yes, she was a murderer. But I am older now and realize even if Jack had lived, he would have been miserable with her."

"That's cynical." the man pointed out.

"That's life. So... how is the training coming?"

"Lobo managed to bathe me with red sunlight and hit me with a metal bat attached to that chain he carries." Seg commented wryly.

Kara smiled, remembering her first encounter with Lobo. "He is such a sweetie. That's how we first met."

Seg shook his head. "You have had a strange life, haven't you Kara?"

"That's the first time anyone has called it strange but yeah, I guess it fits. I still have a lot of life left in me though." she told him.

"And I'm not helping you get over your past, am I?" Seg asked knowingly. "My presence alone is making it difficult for you to have somewhat of a sense of normalcy."

"Not that I disagree, but why do you say that?" Kara asked.

"J'onn told me I need to learn to fly better and use my heat vision at will much faster because my presence was not what you needed."

Kara laughed, not surprised. "My sister and I have each other's memories. All of them. At times, I think I hear something from her only to realize she hadn't spoken. My best friends are a Martian, a Czarnian bounty hunter and a billionaire who dresses like a bat. My life will never be normal. But... it's getting as close as possible. I'm already on my second and final class. I should be done in a couple weeks, honestly I could be done with this in minutes, but I have to take my time, or they will think I am cheating."

Seg grinned slightly. "And the rest? You forgot to mention your great-grandfather who you rescued from Hell and is now planning on jumping off to the future."

Kara brushed it off. "Like I said, normal day."

"How are your solar levels coming? Are they dropping?"

Kara nodded. "Alex checks them every night when she places my pretty tiara on my head and calls me 'princess'. I can't believe I am saying this, but I miss being able to swallow a couple of pills before bedtime instead of sitting there while my brainwaves are manipulated by crystals. And yeah... I wish we could have gotten to know each other better. I know I've been keeping my distance. It's... I really don't want to get attached. I've had to cut enough people out of my life."

Seg knew this. "I'm sorry, Kara."

The blonde shrugged her shoulders. "Maybe you are but the decision has been made. Just... don't hurt Clark, okay?"

Seg nodded. "I'm doing my best. He knows what will happen. I'll win. You know that, right? You believe it?"

Kara smiled sadly. "You led a revolt, saw your friends die. Nobody wins in a fight… not even the victor. That's something that took me a long time to learn."

Seg sighed, knowing she was right. Patting her shoulder, he smiled and walked out of her room.

As he was leaving, Kara heard Alex walk back into the house and up the stairs.

"Together session with our favorite shrink tonight." Alex told her, walking in unannounced. Considering this was her room now, Kara couldn't become too annoyed.

"Yeah... why have you been crying?" the blonde asked quickly.

Alex froze for a moment. She had made sure her eyes were fine, no redness before she came home. "What makes you think I was crying?"

"I can smell the tears that were on your cheek. What happened? Why did you go over to Mom and Dad's in such a hurry?"

"You weren't listening?" Alex asked, surprised. "Is your hearing lessening? That's a good sign. You are so close. It won't be long now..."

"Stop deflecting. I wasn't listening because I thought you and Mom were talking about... everything. What happened?"

Alex closed her eyes and sat on her bed. "Dad called me over. Jessica called Mom and... Mom told her they couldn't talk anymore. That Jess's voice reminded her of too much pain. Mom was upset so I held her until she calmed down."

Kara shook her head sadly. "Another person... it's never going to be easy, is it? People will find out one day. Someone will come to Midvale to check on you or check the state teacher's registry or something. Supergirl may be dead but Kara Danvers is alive and not exactly in hiding."

Alex wasn't worried. "Bruce told me he had asked Dick not to call me anymore, that it was upsetting to me. He told him that he would continue to keep an eye on us and make sure we were taken care of.

"The only other person who would check on me is Connolly. I talked to him last week. I told him the same thing Mom told Jess. I asked him to never bother me again. He said he understood."

Kara took that in for a moment, realizing Alex must have gone to the Fortress so she couldn't hear. "What about Dante, Bar..."

"Screw them!" Alex snapped. "They aren't our problem. We agreed. Kelex will keep your name hidden. It will be okay. They will move on, the same as we will. Bruce will make sure they stay out of our way. If not... J'onn could always..."

"No." Kara said immediately. "Never again. He hates doing that and people's minds shouldn't be tampered with unless absolutely necessary. But you're right. People won't look after all this time, the world thinking I am dead. Soon, we will be forgotten. I shouldn't have brought it up. So, you ready for this session?"

Alex snorted. "When are we ever ready? Let's see what the Wicked Witch wants us to discuss tonight. I'm sure it will be pleasant memories."

Kara shook her head. "I think tonight we should talk about our future, whether she likes it or not."


	30. Chapter 30

**Do not own DC or CW characters**

 **A/N The final chapter. I've been working on this series for over three years now. It has not been easy for any of us, me or the readers. I want to thank all of you who have stuck with this story. It is hard to say goodbye to these characters I love.**

 **Halfway through Seeing Red, I answered a review from a woman named Asgardian Blade. It amazed me how she saw my characters and their motivations as if she were in my head. We began corresponding and she agreed to beta the story for me. We began extensive email correspondence about these characters and their path and the pages of emails would fill up a novel. She not only improved my writing but gave me many insights into characters and the story that I would not have realized on my own. For the first time in my life I began writing with a partner who has also become a close friend. Writing a story like this can put you in a dark place and at times I admit I had a hard time continuing on. Her constant support and encouragement kept me going and pulled me through. Thank you Asgardian Blade.**

 **And thank you to the readers I have corresponded with over the course of this series, some who offered encouragement and others who knew of someone or perhaps had similar difficulties as my characters and gave me further insight and knowledge.**

 **As for the future, we have started work on the Life Equation, and plan to post every Friday here and Sunday on AO3. The story is another expansive alternate Universe and is very different in tone than this series has been. I hope you all will join us there.**

 **Thank you to everyone who has reviewed, or just gave the stories a chance. It means the world to me.**

 **Here we go. The end.**

 **Chapter 30**

Kara walked towards her parent's house, nervously wondering what Seg could want. He had finally figured out how to use a telephone a week ago and called her to come over instead of showing up at her house as he often did.

The man had spent nearly all his time in the Fortress and outside it, learning to use his new powers with J'onn, Lobo and Lar Gand. Bruce had watched, offered tips but not much more than that. Kara suspected he was more concerned with keeping an eye on the Legion members than watching Seg El.

Stepping up to her parent's door, she stopped suddenly, overwhelmed as she was hit with a strong memory.

 _She had been in the wild for three days, finding shelter wherever she could to keep Kal from the storms. Kara had fought the urge as long as possible, knowing that if she went back to Alex, not only the girl but her parents would be in danger._

 _Yet despite knowing she was putting her only friend in danger just by her presence, her feet brought her back because her heart couldn't stay away. The pull was too strong._

 _She stood in front of the house for what seemed like an eternity but was probably ten minutes. Then Eliza and Jeremiah walked onto the porch, their wide eyes meeting hers._

 _Eliza stepped towards her slowly, as if she were afraid Kara would run at the slightest movement. "Kara?"_

" _I'm dangerous." she had said in her broken English, one of the few phrases she had learned._

" _I don't care." Eliza had told her. "We can protect you. You can trust us."_

 _Then she heard the voice she had longed for. "Kara? Is it really you?"_

 _Though Jeremiah was standing beside her, Kara only saw Alex. She had nodded her head, tears running down her dirty face. "I have to hide. I trust you."_

 _Then almost faster than even Kara could see, Alex had her arms wrapped around her and Kal, crying as well._

" _I... we will hide you. Trust me?" Alex had asked._

" _I trust you."_

"Kara? Are you okay?"

Kara had been so caught up in the memory, she hadn't noticed Seg had stepped out onto the porch. His voice shook her from the memory.

"Hi, Seg." she greeted him. "I'm fine. You wanted me here? Why didn't you just come to our house?"

"I thought we might walk on the beach. Your eyes are watery. Did you have... a bad memory?"

Kara smiled and shook her head. "A good one actually. The best decision I ever made happened right here on this spot. I guess it just came back to me.

"Anyway, how are you? I'm surprised you aren't at the Fortress. You have been putting in some serious hours over the last couple weeks."

Seg smiled but Kara could tell there wasn't joy behind it. "Up for a walk on the beach?"

Kara nodded and the two walked down the well-worn path on the side of the cliff and emerged onto the sand Kara had spent so much time on.

"That's my rock." Kara told him, pointing to a very large stone near the path's end.

"You own a rock?" he asked, confused.

Kara laughed and shook her head. "No, I claimed it. When I was growing up here, before I was Supergirl... we would spend nearly every Sunday here in the summers, all of us. Alex and I practically lived here during the weekdays, but Sunday was reserved for family day. We would lay out a blanket, bring food, just hang out all day. Before I joined them in the fun though, I always sat on this rock. I would draw everything I could see. I must have hundreds of drawings of my family, playing here, Clark learning to build sandcastles, Alex trying to surf on waves that were really too small for surfing, Dad holding Clark in the surf while Mom yelled at him to bring Clark back so she could put more sunscreen on him. I'm sure Dad has all the drawings in his Kara art collection somewhere. Not one of those drawings was ever the same. Each one was different in its own special way."

Seg reached for her hand and she took it, a wistful smile on his face. "It sounds wonderful."

She nodded. "It was. It still will be. I'm bringing the tradition back soon. I want more good memories to add to those I already have. Anyway... how is the training going?"

Seg looked a bit sheepish for a moment. "That's what I wanted to talk to you about."

"I can't help you." Kara told him, shaking her head. She hoped she hadn't upset him. "I'm sorry. I've only been using my heat vision in the visor to get rid of these powers. I just can't... I can't go back there. I thought I could train you, but... you saw what happened. Using our powers... it's like a rush… almost a drug. Something in me snapped when I tried to fight. I went back to a very dark place that scares me, changed me into who I was. I can't go there anymore. I don't want to be her anymore."

Seg shook his head. "And I don't want you to, ever. What I meant is... I'm not an expert like you. I haven't had years to perfect these powers and I'm not sure I ever will. I do know how to use my heat vision and my very cold breath which suddenly came out of nowhere. I've gotten my strength somewhat in control and Lobo has been beating me around daily, so I certainly know how to take a hit."

"When?" Kara asked, already knowing where this was going.

"Tomorrow. Brainy is afraid the longer we are here the harder it will be to get back to the exact time they left. I'd like to call Adam tonight and have him meet us in Metropolis where the time thing is. Brainy has been going over some crazy equations for days now but I trust Adam to get me where we need to be."

Kara said nothing and continued walking, Seg by her side.

To Seg's surprise, Kara chuckled. "It's too bad. I have an ex-boyfriend who would have been great at getting you there. I'd rather not call him though."

"Didn't end well?" Seg guessed.

Kara shrugged her shoulders and smiled. "Most relationships don't, or they wouldn't end at all. Besides, he's part of the past I'm leaving behind. I'm sure your Strange friend and the Coluan can get you where you need to go or at least close enough. If not, maybe Brainy can find Dr. Who in some parallel Universe and use the TARDIS."

Seg was confused and Kara held up her hand. "It was a joke. You don't want to know. You can take any weapons you might need from the Fortress. Kelex can always make more."

"Why would you need more? That part of your life is over, right?" the man asked, slightly concerned.

Kara nodded her head. "Yes, but in the event of an invasion, I would still like the ability to hide my family in the Fortress and fight off anything that comes our way if it should. Many governments and even some everyday citizens have fallout shelters in the event of war. You could say I take it the extreme when it comes to the safety of my family. The Fortress is the safest, most secure facility on this planet and many other planets. It's my safe haven. I won't fight anymore but I will still protect those who are mine."

Seg wasn't surprised by the certainty in her voice. Even though she was stepping away from defending the planet, Kara had seen too much to take anything for granted. In his time at the Fortress, at his request, Kelex had shown him many of the battles Kara and Alex had fought. They were brutal, some enough to make him sick, such as the Doomsday battle. No matter how far she walked away from that life, those experiences would always be a part of her.

"I'm sorry." the man told her. "This probably didn't work out the way you wanted it too. I... I feel like I am abandoning you and I don't want that. It's just… I feel..."

Kara stopped walking and held up a hand. "My fight is over, and Clark's hasn't begun. Your fight is still going on… and you have to finish it. I get it, okay? Yeah, I wanted you in our lives, but I realize now it was never going to happen. I suspect I always knew, even if I didn't want to admit it to myself.

"I knew all about you before I pulled you out of the Phantom Zone. You are stubborn like me and you hate the idea of not winning. Besides... this isn't your world. Maybe the future is closer to what Krypton was. Maybe you can find happiness there, once your fight is over. If I can do it, so can you."

Seg nodded. "I admit toilet paper was a bit hard to become used to."

Kara snorted. "You were lucky you didn't find out about toilet paper the same way I did."

"Do I even want to know?" Seg asked, a smile lighting his face.

Kara shook her head. "Let's just say I have never been to a porta potty again, no matter how bad I needed a restroom. Have you talked to Clark yet?"

Seg shook his head. "He suspects. I was hoping I could meet everyone tonight and tell them, but I wanted to talk to you first. I wish... I wish I could have told you more about our House. Maybe I could have helped you understand that not all the House of El was bad. Before... my son and grandsons, the House of El had a noble tradition. We weren't tyrants..."

Kara placed a hand on his arm. "I know that, or I would never have pulled you out of the Phantom Zone. It's okay. Just promise me one thing."

Seg nodded quickly, taking in Kara's solemn expression. "Of course."

"Never let the Daxamite or anyone know about the role the House of El played in destroying Krypton. I don't want that associated with Clark. He's going to be a legendary hero and I don't want anything tarnishing that symbol he is going to wear on his chest. No one knows, ever."

"I swear, I will never tell anyone." Seg promised. "Not just for Clark… I don't want it to reflect on what you accomplished either. I'm not exactly keen to tell anyone for myself."

Kara was satisfied at the sincerity in his voice. She would have to be. Once he was gone, there was nothing she could do about it regardless.

"So, dinner tonight?" Kara asked, breaking the momentary silence as they began their walk up the path and back to the house. At his nod, she said, "We will be there."

Kara left the man alone and walked back to her house. Alex was in the living room on her laptop seemingly deep in thought.

"What's got you thinking so hard? Looking at my solar levels or brain waves?" Kara asked, grinning, guessing it was one of those two.

Alex, to her surprise, shook her head. "I sent my resignation into Raleigh today so naturally, the CDC and WHO found out immediately. They called me an hour later asking me to go over data of an outbreak of Lassa fever that is much more aggressive than previously discovered viruses. The death rate is 37% of infected. I think it's coming from a small village in Nigeria. I have Kelex at the Fortress looking for Patient Zero, but it won't be easy if at all possible. Currently, I'm trying to modify a more effective vaccine to combat the mutation."

Kara stiffened, worried. It was no secret how proud she was of Alex's accomplishments as a doctor, of how both health organizations actively sought out her sister whenever they could, knowing Alex could deliver results. But she wasn't above pulling the overprotective sister card to make sure Alex stayed safe.

Kara did her best to sound casual and calm. "You aren't going into the field, are you? They know you are still a consultant, right? I mean, you are still a consultant… aren't you?"

Despite the casual tone of her voice, Alex knew it was anything but a casual question. She met Kara's eyes and smiled. "I'll never go into the field… I promise you that. I've agreed to work strictly as an outside consultant for both organizations on a more fulltime basis which should keep me plenty busy. No more life risking actions will be taken by the Danvers sisters from now on."

Kara smiled and visibly relaxed, extremely relieved until Alex's next comment. "That includes high speed motorcycle activity."

"But... but that's not the same. My baby was built for high speed. I can't just ignore her. I may as well not feed Streaky for a month. It would be the same kind of cruelty." Kara whined.

Alex raised an eyebrow. "You built my bike for speed too. I guess you are okay if I find a runway and hit 170?"

Kara shook her head quickly. "Absolutely not! You are only allowed to do that if I am with you and considering I won't have my powers for much longer to pull you out if you fall... you could die... oh... I guess I see your point. When is the last time you saw a doctor by the way?"

Alex was caught off guard by that question and sudden change of topic.

It didn't matter as Kara rattled on, visibly tensing up again. "You don't have to answer. I already know, remember? Veritas cleared you for light activity and a week later you began training with Nyssa. You haven't been to a doctor since."

Alex shrugged it off. "I feel fine. Anxiety meds and sleeping pills Leslie prescribed are working..."

Kara shook her head. "But other internal injuries could still be a concern. I know you took shots in the third base you raided, cracked ribs. I felt them, remember? I've checked you over with X Ray vision, but it wouldn't hurt to see a doctor. According to my Mother, if you die, I die and I would prefer us not to die before we reach fifty."

Alex reached out and pulled Kara down to sit beside her, instinctively knowing it would calm her sister. "Kelex checks me all the time. I am healthy and I plan to stay that way. Relax, okay? If anything was wrong with any of us, you know Kelex would say something. Now, what did Seg want?"

Kara was thoughtful for a moment, internalizing her sister's words, relaxing for the second time in as many minutes knowing Alex really was being careful. Shifting mental gears, she replied, "They are all leaving tomorrow. His friend is going to meet him in Metropolis at the Legion's time ship in the morning. He wanted us all to have dinner at Mom and Dad's tonight."

Alex suspected it was something of that nature and while she had come to like Seg, enjoying his company and watching him learn truths about Earth like toilet paper and the excessive need for it after Eliza's enchiladas, she couldn't help but be glad he was leaving. Alex wanted some sense of normalcy. While she had no problem with J'onn, Lobo and Bruce, any other superheroes would not be great for Kara... or her either for that matter.

At least until Clark decided what he wanted to do, which was hopefully far off in the future.

That night, the Danvers family sat around the table with Seg, eating steak that Jeremiah had grilled along with baked potatoes.

The conversation was casual, Seg asking questions about Earth and vacations the Danvers had taken, food on the planet, things such as those. The questions and conversations were lighthearted, and it was obvious Seg was doing his best to make sure no conversation was about Supergirl or her exploits.

Though the man had seen some of her more vicious fights and saw what she did to Lar Gand, he had also scoured over the good she had done, the lives she had saved, billions considering she stopped Myriad and hundreds of thousands when Doomsday was taken in account. Kelex had shown him Kara catching planes, rescuing people from floods and tornadoes, every video Kelex had of her doing some great deed that should have been impossible, he had shown Seg.

Seg, despite what he learned about his son and grandsons, could not have been prouder. Though Kara was always the one on video, it became clear to him over the past few weeks that _Supergirl_ was a team effort.

"Just say it." Clark finally spoke up in a lull of conversation. "You are going soon, right? When?"

Seg glanced at Kara who slightly nodded her head. "In the morning."

Clark nodded his head. "No need to be nervous about saying it. I know why you have to go. I've always known. Alex and Kara's fight is over and mine hasn't begun if it ever will. Your fight is still going on." the boy said, and it struck Seg how much he sounded like Kara.

"I'm glad you understand. I wish it was over, but it will never be as long as that monster lives. I have to end him. I have a feeling I am the only one who can." Seg admitted, not bragging but more reserved, as if a burden had been placed on him that he did not want.

Clark recognized the grief in Seg's voice. "Would you change anything? Knowing what you know now, would you change anything if you could go back?"

Seg nodded his head. "I would have taught Adam how to fly the damn skimmer and sent him into Brainiac's damn ship with that damn projector."

The family laughed, even Clark. The boy was quick enough to realize what that would mean though. "Then I wouldn't have my family. I couldn't let you do that." he told Seg in all seriousness.

Seg nodded, understanding. "I wouldn't. Playing with the past is dangerous. The Legion took a big chance coming here. They should have known better, but they were... they are desperate. I will figure out a way to win. Adam and I did it once, using his Zeta Beam as a translator. We can do it again, do it right this time."

Kara looked up at the man. "Why do you need this guy? You told us he sucks at time traveling. You have a better chance of getting where you need to go with Brainy."

Seg shrugged his shoulders and took a bite of steak, nearly moaning at the taste. "This is incredible, Jeremiah… as to your question, Kara, Brainiac 13 is a creature of reason and logic. To beat him you have to be unreasonable and completely illogical. No one is better at coming up with stupid ideas than Adam Strange. The two us together make no sense at all. What about all of you? Would any of you change something in your past, hoping for a different outcome?"

None of the Danvers said a word, not looking at each other but obviously deep in thought.

"I wouldn't have gone back to work after Kara had the red crystal implanted." Alex admitted. "When Doomsday showed up, I would have knocked her out and kept her locked in the Fortress. We would have stayed there and let the Lanterns and whoever else wanted to join the party take care of Doomsday. Our parents and Clark would have come to the Fortress. I don't care how unstoppable he was, that monster wasn't swimming the ocean and then breaking into the Fortress.

"Another thing I would change is I would have talked Dick Grayson into making that jump onto Flower so I could have been with Kara."

Kara wondered if anything would have changed though. What if Alex had been with her and Reign tore her apart. Every little decision, no matter how wrong it seemed now, could have effected so much, kept them apart forever.

Though addressing the room, she was looking at Alex, speaking to her alone. "If I hadn't have fought Doomsday, I would have never taken the red ring. The red ring was why the Worldkillers came to Earth. Still... I don't know if I would change a thing. Who knows what small decision could have changed everything. We are here. Yeah, we are hurt and maybe a little crazy, but we are here… together with our family. I... as much as I have done wrong, I'm not sure I would change anything."

Jeremiah agreed. "There have been a lot of 'what ifs' and 'could have beens' in our lives. Being without Kara for a year has shown me one very important fact... that our family isn't complete unless we are all together. We literally fell apart and couldn't function without her. I have thought about what I would change if given the chance so many times over the past thirteen years and I have a lot of regrets. But like Kara said, despite everything, we are all here now… together. That's what matters."

"I wish Kara had never tasted alcohol." Clark added. The table looked at him and he shrugged his shoulders. "What? I thought we were... okay, forget I said anything."

Kara shook her head. "Clark, do you ever plan to drink alcohol?"

The boy turned red from embarrassment. "Never. When you were at the Block and I saw you the first time... I swore to myself that I would never touch it."

Kara smiled, patting him on the back. "Then maybe I had to go through it so you never would."

Despite her assurances, Clark was still clearly upset. "You and Alex have been saying that my whole life. You go through things, so I don't have to. You lived with secrets so I wouldn't have to. It isn't fair. It was never fair to either of you."

Alex chuckled. "Clark, the most important lesson you can ever learn is life isn't fair. You are going to make mistakes, you are going to take losses. Kara and I have had our share. We have given into rage, depression, isolation, even been a bit crazy at times. But you won't. You have seen our best and seen our worst. You are going to be the best of us."

Clark motioned towards Seg. "What about him?"

"He's probably going to get his ass kicked... I said that out loud, didn't I? I am so sorry." Kara said with wide eyes, horrified, realizing she was picking up Alex's habit of saying whatever was on her mind.

Instead of being irritated or disheartened, Seg laughed.

"She's not wrong. That's what we do. We go into situations that look unwinnable and figure out a way, no matter the pain. You will too someday." Seg told the boy.

Clark shrugged his shoulders. "I'm not even sure that's what I want to do."

Seg looked sadly at the boy. "If there is one thing I have learned being here and learning about you all, is that you can't fight destiny. It will never be in you to see something wrong, something where only you are capable of helping, and not try to fix it. Your family has taught you that. I wish I could say you learned it from the House of El, but it is obvious you didn't. You learned it from the Danvers."

No one said a word, focusing on their food. The discussion turned light once again. After dinner, Seg used Alex's cell phone to contact Kelex who patched him through an untraceable call to Adam Strange.

The next morning, after saying goodbye to the Danvers, Clark, Kara and Alex climbed into the sisters' 1970 Fastback and drove Seg to the location of the cloaked time ship the Legion had arrived in. It was now visible, and Kara couldn't help but laugh at how much the thing resembled a soap bubble. The Legionnaires were waiting for them, along with Lobo and J'onn, having slipped off to fly to Metropolis in the early morning darkness.

It appeared Brainy already had the omegahedron hooked up given he was standing with the others. They all shook hands, Brainy asking Kara for a moment alone from the others.

"Thank you. You probably saved our time." the man told her.

"Don't forget to hold up your end of the promise." Kara replied, then looking at Seg as he was speaking to the others, she continued, "And... take care of him. Don't let him go off on some suicide mission again, okay?"

Brainy nodded. "I promise… and I will never reveal your secrets, none of us will. History knows what they should know about you. Supergirl died in the sun. Without you, your sister, your friends, there wouldn't be an Earth in the future."

"One more thing." Kara told him before he walked off.

"Anything." the Coluan assured her.

"I don't care what problem you are facing. Swear to me you will never come back to this time again, understand? No matter what, if this world is threatened or any world is threatened, stay away. I never want to see any of you again."

Brainy was saddened but understood. "I swear, Kara Danvers. It has been an honor to meet you. Enjoy your life with your family."

Kara nodded and returned to her sister. While they waited, Clark went to the trunk of the car and brought Seg's jacket to him.

"This belongs to you." the boy told him.

Seg smiled. "I think it belongs to you now."

Clark shook his head. "Nah, I plan to have my own someday. I'm thinking something in red that zips up. Take this. Every superhero needs a costume. This jacket is probably as close as you should get to having one."

Seg smiled and gripped his shoulder in gratitude. "Thank you."

"Also, remember Brainiac may have some type of telekinesis, but he can't stop heat vision. If you are paralyzed, take him out. Blind him the first chance you get. Don't forget what Kara told you about the spine. If he walks, he needs some support to do it. Don't put yourself in a position where you have to make tight turns in the air. You suck at those. Remember to keep your mouth closed in space if you have to fly there. Also..."

"Clark..." Seg stopped him. "I think I got this. At least I will try my best. Don't worry about me. Just be you. From what I have seen, you are already pretty great, and you will be even better. Just remember to do it your way. Protect the innocent and bring those who wish harm on others to justice. Just don't be that justice unless you have no other choice. Promise me?"

Clark smiled and nodded. "Yeah, I get it."

Any further talk was cut off by the sound of a car squealing to a stop just outside.

A man no one had seen before jumped out of the car and rushed to Seg, stopping just short of him. "It's really you."

"It's really me." Seg agreed and picked the man up in a hug. Adam's face turned purple for a moment.

"Strong." the man wheezed.

Seg put him down quickly.

"So, where did you find a translator? You sound better." Adam asked.

"And you don't sound like a robotic idiot!" Seg told him with a huge smile. "I learned English in the Phantom Zone."

"Why do you sound British? Did a butler teach you? Do you know any other languages? Are we really going a thousand years into the future to end that son of a bitch? Who are all these people?" He asked, finally looking around.

"These people are... friends." Seg said.

"Whoa... Lobo... what are you doing here? I don't owe you anything, do I? I let you borrow the Zeta Beam last year. I thought we were cool?" Adam asked nervously.

"Just here to see my friend off." the large man assured him.

"You're the Martian Manhunter." Adam realized, finally taking in the room. "And you three?" he gestured towards the girls and Clark. "You girls seem... familiar."

Seg slapped him lightly on the back, causing the man to stumble forward. "I'll explain when we get to the future. These gentlemen are going to take us to Brainiac."

Adam took the men in by the time machine. "Uh, Seg," Adam whispered, "you know that's a Coluan right?"

"It will be fine, okay? Trust me." Seg assured the man. Adam walked towards the Legionnaires while Seg hugged his two girls and Clark.

"Good luck." Alex said to him.

When it was her turn, Kara whispered in his ear, hugging the man tightly. "Take comfort from the knowledge that there is an afterlife. Alex and I have seen it."

Seg pulled back. "You really aren't good at pep talks, are you?"

Kara shrugged her shoulders. "Just want you to know, win or lose, we will see each other again one day. Take care of yourself, Seg."

"I will." he assured her, then looked at Clark. "Wear that symbol with pride someday. Take care of yourself, Superman."

"Truth and Justice, right?" Clark agreed, remembering one of his talks with Seg that had gone late into the night.

"Justice, not vengeance." Kara stressed.

Clark nodded and smiled slightly.

"Exactly." Seg agreed. "Clark, take care of that girlfriend of yours and your family. Make sure they stay happy and safe. Goodbye everyone."

Seg walked towards the Legionnaires, placed an arm around Adam and the two entered the craft.

A bright light filled the warehouse and then the bubble was gone.

Kara hugged Clark. She wanted to say some words of comfort, knowing the boy who, despite his understanding, wished Seg could stay.

Before she could speak, another, different light burst from the ceiling to the floor, a purple beam of energy.

Once it was gone, Adam Strange knelt on the floor, then slowly rose. "Did we just leave? Like five seconds ago? I'm good with the Zeta Beam but I've never traveled that far into the past before. So... did we just leave?"

Kara walked towards the man. "Yeah, you just left. What are you doing back?"

Adam's eyes were a little wild, but he replied easily to her question, rambling from topic to topic as he did so. "Seg said to tell you all that we won! Brainiac is dead. He said he knew too much about the past to come back but... I really don't know why he sent me back. I learned so much and I can't wait to tell you! It's going to be awesome... you are Supergirl, right? You're really freaking alive! Brainy wanted me to tell you he got the new statue of your sister set up right next to you and... you..." he stopped speaking, looking at Clark with wide eyes. "Dude, you are going to be so awesome. I'm not supposed to say anything. Seg told me I had to see the Martian Manhunter before I could say anything. He said he talked to you about this, right MM, is it okay if I call you MM or J'onn..."

J'onn walked up to the man and placed a hand on his head. Adam froze and his eyes glazed over.

"He won't remember any of this." J'onn said. "He will forget Seg ever calling him or anything that went on in the future. Lobo?"

Lobo walked up to the dazed man and took the Zeta Beam from his hand then patted him on the cheek. "Thanks for the Beam, dumbass."

J'onn smiled and looked at the four remaining people. "I'll keep him here for a few minutes. You four should go."

Alex snorted and walked out, Lobo splitting off from them and heading towards his ship after a hug from his girls. To his surprise, even Clark hugged him, which was a first and took him off guard.

As Kara and Clark got into the car, Alex stopped and pulled out a note that was stuck between the windshield wiper and the windshield.

She opened it up carefully, looking around. This area was too abandoned for some random sales kid to drop off an advertisement on the car.

"Did you hear anyone approach the car?" Alex asked Kara, knowing she would hear. Kara shook her head, getting back out. "I wasn't paying attention though. My levels have come down enough that I can focus my hearing better. What is it?"

Alex saw it was a handwritten letter.

 _Hey kid,_

 _Kelex almost had me fooled. He has your speech mannerisms down. He screwed up though. He asked me to find Dante. He said it wasn't right that he had left out of some sense of guilt. That's the moment I knew I wasn't talking to you. You haven't given a damn about anything except getting Kara back for the last year. Only reason I could think of why Kelex would ask is if Kara returned and he didn't want her chasing after Dante out of guilt. I decided to do what the robot asked and find some answers of my own. Started back where I last saw Dante and found a huge crater that reached for miles. Hard to believe something like that didn't make it on the news. Tell J'onn and Bruce the meteor rocks were clever. Could have fooled me if I didn't know their tricks._

 _I found Dante. He's back in civilization again. If Kara ever asks, let her know._

 _I don't want you to feel bad, I get it. I understand why we can't have contact anymore. Only me, Jess and Dante know about Kara, and we swear never to say a word. This is the last you will hear from us. I wish I could talk to you again but I'm not sure where I would start. I'm not proud of what we did to you and your sister. Maybe we never had a choice, but I am proud to have known you… J'onn was always your friend but with us? We were more. We shaped you and turned you into something you both never need to be again._

 _I just want you to know I love you. Knowing you, working with you, fighting beside you, is one of the greatest experiences in my life. Now it's time to find your peace. Both of you deserve it. I want to say to the both of you, thanks for saving the world and thanks for letting us be a part of it, no matter how painful it was. I'm glad you finally got what you deserve, Alex. Give Kara a hug for me._

 _Your Sith Master,_

 _Connolly_

Alex had tears streaming down her face and handed the letter to a concerned Kara. The older sister scanned the rooftops surrounding the warehouse until she saw him, waiting and watching them, on a nearby roof. He had a familiar grin and gave her a salute then disappeared.

She turned back to Kara who was also silently crying.

"It's over." Kara finally said. "No looking back."

"No looking back." Alex agreed. The two got into the car with Clark and made the long journey back to Midvale.

When they arrived at their home, they found Jeremiah carrying two suitcases that belonged to Leslie. The woman in question walked out behind him.

"Leslie? Going somewhere?" Kara asked carefully.

The doctor nodded. "Going to stay at your parents for the next month, three sessions a week for you two now. Two individuals and one you both attend. After a month, if I'm happy, I'll go back to my very nice beach house and we can have video sessions."

Kara and Alex were pleasantly surprised. Clark was crestfallen.

"You can stay here." Clark told the woman. "They don't mind, right Alex?"

Leslie gave the boy a wicked grin. "They don't need me every second anymore. I won't be here for the rest of their lives."

Looking to the surprised sisters, she said, "I'm not abandoning you two… just giving you some space. Besides, I think Clark needs more sessions now than you two do."

"I really don't." Clark said quickly.

"Tough. I got three more bags to move. Get going, Superman."

So for the next few weeks, Kara and Alex did have their space. They still slept in the same room, woke each other up at times during bad dreams but they were becoming less frequent. Kara continued working on lowering her power levels with the visor while wearing a red sun bracelet on both arms and spending most of the day in the Fortress with Kelex and Alex.

It was a beautiful morning that found Alex walking downstairs, grabbing her coffee and moving to the living room where Kara was seated with a laptop resting on her legs. Alex froze, seeing the tears running down Kara's cheeks.

"Sweetie, what's wrong?" she asked, no small amount of worry in her voice.

Kara shook her head and smiled.

"Nothing at all." she assured her sister, wiping her eyes. "I just completed my last course so I'm ready to begin my observation hours in the fall. Marie already has me booked for those and then I take the certification test on December 1st."

She looked up at Alex, her expression reflecting the wonder of her accomplishment. "I did it, Alex. I never thought I would get here, and I did."

Kara placed the laptop on the couch and hugged her big sister with all her strength.

Alex was smiling with her and hugging her as tightly as she could with one arm while trying not to splash coffee everywhere when she realized something incredible. "Kara? You aren't holding back are you?"

"I stubbed my toe in the kitchen this morning." Kara giggled into her sister's shoulder. "For once, pain made me happy."

Alex dropped her coffee to the floor and wrapped both arms around Kara, hugging her even tighter, tears in her eyes as well.

"I am so proud of you." Alex whispered.

"I wouldn't have gotten here without you." Kara told her.

"That is so true." Alex admitted cheekily and the two laughed, still holding each other.

Finally breaking apart, Alex asked the question. "When?"

"I'm about to call Dad. I want it done today. I want it over." Kara admitted, her face radiating her happiness.

Alex let out a breath of relief, still smiling. "Yeah, me too."

Later that night, Kara opened her eyes in the Fortress. She was lying on her back, a bit dazed from the non-addictive pain killer her Dad had given her while he performed surgery. Alex had assisted him while her mother and Kelex watched the monitors.

Her family was gathered around her, the people who had taken her and Clark in when they had nothing, when they were scared, when they were hungry. The ones who had loved her through her worst and never lost faith in her even when she lost faith in herself.

And her sister who had gone to war by her side and protected her even when she didn't want to protect herself.

"It's over. This time, it's really over." Kara whispered. "I forgot how itchy stitches were."

Alex brushed a strand of hair off her face. "It's your left shoulder. You may not be able to swim this Sunday, but you can draw us on the beach. Just make sure to include yourself in the drawing, okay?"

Kara snorted. "Maybe I'll draw a picture of a little girl about to drink saltwater while her big sister stands in front of her so she can see her face when she realizes how bad it tastes."

"Don't forget to include the little naked boy knocking sandcastles over." Alex remarked, winking at Kara.

"You can forget that actually." Clark whined.

Alex shook her head. "Not a chance, Stinky."

Eliza wrapped an arm around Alex's shoulder. "We all need rest. Then tomorrow, I have a special treat for my family."

Kara, Clark and Alex tried to hide their cringes with fake smiles.

Eliza confirmed what the three hoped they were wrong about. "That's right. I think I have the enchilada recipe just right this time. It will be delicious, I promise."

Jeremiah shook his head, muttering, "I'll make sure the plumbing supplies are ready in the bathrooms along with extra toilet paper."

"I'm so glad I don't have a digestive system." Kelex commented.

The family laughed at Eliza's disgruntled expression as she headed out with Clark to catch up with the daily chores.

Alex helped Kara sit up gently, rubbing her back while Jeremiah wrapped a sling around her to support her left arm. When he finished, he and Kelex began to clean up, leaving the sisters alone.

"Think I can help you walk to our room or do you want to stay here?" Alex asked, attentively.

Kara smiled and moved gently off the hard slab.

"You can help me. I trust you." Kara told her big sister. Seeing the delighted look her words caused, she put her right arm over Alex's shoulder, and leaned into her, accepting the support. "Love you, Alex."

"Love you, too." Alex winked at her. "Never forget that."

"I never will."


End file.
